Mortalife's Collection of Unfinished Stories
by Mortalife
Summary: A range of different stories I wrote a few years ago in an attempt to fill a void for technology and magic, or a desire to read about rune magic. Enjoy. :)
1. Story 1

Hello everyone, welcome to my collection of unfinished, unpolished Harry Potter stories. I like to think sometimes that I'm capable of writing something of interest, I try, I fail, and these are the results.

Most the things you are about to read (If you stay around that long) are ideas which I wanted to read but couldn't find somebody which had written it. So be all means, take the ideas I have attempted to scrawl (Metaphorically) on these pages (Word doc's. ;)), and create something new and brilliant.

And will that, I give you..

Story 1: When Harry Met Ginny + Well that's pretty weird.. 11k Words (5 Chapters)

***Disclaimer: I own nothing, well, not quite true but nonetheless, I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making cash, no copyright infringement intended.

Chapter One: Odd

Harry was a normal boy, well he thought he was normal. Okay, he's not normal. It's not every day that your parents die and you get carted off to live with your mothers sister. His aunt thought she was normal, doing all her incredibility normal things, one normal day after another. But to be honest with you, she wasn't all that normal either.

Is wasn't long before the occupants of number 4 Privet Drive started to wake, which meant one thing for Harry, get up and start the chores.

"BOY, GET UP, GET UP!" His red faced Uncle shouted as he passed his cupboard under the stairs.

Harry was woken from a pleasant dream, it was about two animals running together through some woods. _Strange_. Rubbing his eyes, he picked up his trousers from the corner. Careful to remove the spider that had taken sanctuary there during the night.

Most people would be disgusted at the thought of making a child sleep under the stairs. It wasn't that Harry didn't disagree, but more that he knew nothing else. And there was one thing he could be sure of, it was his cupboard, and he knew nobody would go in there. _Not that they could fit_ He thought with a smile.

"Wipe that smile off your face, and start breakfast!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon"

And that started the morning just like every other. He moved over to the fridge, removed a couple packets of bacon, a packet of sausages and the butter. It took him nearly an hour to make a mound of food that would be acceptable, to his 'family'.

"Get a move on, boy! Some of us have to work around here!"

"After all we've done for you! And you keep us starving. We put clothes on your back, gave you a place to sleep. And all the _love_ in our hearts."

"Quite right, Petunia, quite right." Said his uncle as he started to move the food to the table. Dudley his cousin took this moment to enter the room.

Harry had his back to the door, and didn't notice his entrance. Which was quite unfortunate really. You see, Dudley had almost made it his life mission to torment his cousin, at every and any opportunity. Today was no different. Harry was making his way to the table, hands laden with the last of the cooked breakfast. With a sharp push, Harry was falling forward.

"Watch it, freak!" Dudley said as he waddled to his chair.

Not long after, the bowl of beans and the plate filled with buttered toast was running down his uncles suit. _Awhh, poo.. _Harry was lifting himself off the table, when his neck was yanked upwards to meet the purple face of Vernon Dursley. He winced.

It was at times like this that Harry often wondered to himself. Why was he treated as he was, and why did his cousin not get reprimanded for his part in today's events. As it was, he was scoffing his face, watching the by play with amusement.

The hands around his neck were now starting to cut off his supply of oxygen. One choke, two chokes.

"Vernon," Petunia voiced.

It wasn't in concern for the boys life in which she cautioned her husband, oh no. She was as much in for the child as he was. But she couldn't have the husband of her perfectly normal family go to jail for killing the freak.

He looked at her, and nodded, as much you can with three chins. Lifted the boy up and threw him towards the door with a thud.

"GET IN YOUR CUPBOARD, DON'T YOU DARE THINK OF COMING OUT!" And get in his cupboard, he did.

With the excitement of breakfast over with, and his uncle out the door towards towards work, Grunnings, the drill-bit manufacturer, where he worked as a factory manager. He thought back to his dream. It was a strange sort of dream, he wasn't watching the animals run around, he observed. It was almost as if he was the animal. _I wish _He resigned with sigh.

The weeks passed by without much fan fair. Harry didn't go to school the day of the breakfast incident. But, the next day, the bruises around his next clearly visible he was told to go. Not without a stern warning from his Uncle Vernon.

"I'm warning you freak, if you tell anyone where you got these bruises. I'll make sure you'll never be able to talk again. Got it?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon"

Like always, it was better to keep his mouth shut and agree. He's tried to fool his Uncle once before. Telling his teachers what was happening at home, but of course. The idea of an adults word is greater than a child's won over. His uncle claimed he was a chronic liar, and that was when his teachers started looking at him with suspicion, for every wrong doing committed at school.

So when he arrived at school that day, the obvious questions were asked. "Stay behind a moment, Harry"

"Yes, Mrs Jones," He whispered looking at his feet. He walked to the front of the class, glancing back, he watched the other students watching him as they walked out the room towards the playground.

"Harry, I want to know, where did you get those bruises?" His teacher eyed him.

"Funny story really, me and my cousin were playing, and he _accidentally_ pushed me." _Into my uncle and he strangled me. _He added silently. She scowled at this.

"And what game would this be?" Harry's face quickly looked panicked. Looking for answers.

"Oh-Um, we were re-enacting a history lesson, yes," Looking down again.

"Okay, go and play with your friends. You've got five minutes," Harry snorted quietly on his way out. _Friends._ He thought with a sad smile.

The last weeks of school came and went, it was now summer holiday. And Harry spent almost all of his free time slaving in the house. The bruises around his neck started to lessen and life carried on as normal for the young boy, even if it was a twisted sort of normal.

_The countryside is so beautiful from the air. _His wings spread wide as his rode the wind like the master he was. Beating down strongly, the morning breeze flowing past his feathers. Soaring up, then in a swift movement, plummeted to ground. Thrill of the chase. His sharp claws dug easily into his preys neck.

Thud. Thud. THUD.

"Boy up! And tidy this kitchen we have guests for lunch!" Said his Aunt Petunia through the grill in the door.

"Ugh-"

"GET UP!"

"I'm up, I'm up!"

Harry got out out of bed, and got dressed quickly. _Why did I have to wake? Such a good dream. _He thought. Making his way into the kitchen he walked past the table.

"Look at you!" She screeched.

Harry turned around, his face plastered with confusion. _What?_

"You've got dirt all around your neck. What would the neighbours think-" "Maybe if you let me wash.." He muttered. His Aunt Petunia continued. "-get upstairs, and take a wash!"

So Harry turned around walked out the room and up the stairs. When he reached the bathroom he shed he clothes in the corner of the room. He turned on the shower to a moderate heat, he'd had enough scoldings for a lifetime. He glanced at the mirror. _Hmm, suppose I am a little dirty._

Twenty minutes later, Harry was drying himself off, feeling more energised than he had in days. _The wonders of hot water._ He mused. He turned to the basin and put some tooth paste on his finger and began rubbing his teeth. It was only when he glanced up into the mirror for the second time that day, that he saw that the mark around his neck was still there. He frowned.

Harry rinsed his mouth and leant over the bowl towards the mirror for a closer look. That's when he saw the detail. It looked as if, somebody had painted a pattern on his back with sun cream before he went into the sun. On the back of his neck was a light patch of skin. It looked to be a pair of wings. He checked himself over. He noticed two others, one the lower-left-hand-side of his back, there was a flame. The other, on the opposite side, looked like a piece of Tiger skin. Confused and unable to gain a grasp of what they were, shrugged and dressed for the day.

Like always, Harry employed the 'Be silent and don't be seen' rule while the guests were over for dinner. With nothing better to do, he slipped out of the front door, and run off towards the local park. A few seconds after he set off, he looked back to see if he had been seen. Seeing the house as normal as ever, he continued on.

It didn't seem like he had been there ten minutes before Dudley as his gang arrived. As per usual, the group of five were looking for a lone kid to hurt. Today like so many days before it, Harry was that lone kid. Let the Harry Hunt begin.

_Cmon, CMON! Just a little faster. _Harry had been trying to escape for 20 minutes or so now. Being generally faster than the other group, and the slight head start he got (by predicting what was about to happen) he had gained some headway. All of that of course, was wasted when he hid in Mrs Franks front garden behind a bush. Only to have her run out the house screaming at him.

Piers, Dudley's 'Second in command' was closing in. They were about five minutes walk from school. His legs were beginning to tire. He knew what would happen if he stopped, he didn't want that. The burn continued, his usual pain tolerance exceeded, he franticly searched for a place to hide.

_Pleeaase, cmon, there has to be somewhere! I wish I was away from here! _He screamed in his mind. A second later the fire erupted within. He felt it surge then, 'Pop'.

Piers turned the corner, and saw nobody. It took a moment for Dudley to catch up. "Where'd.. ..He.. ..Go?" He asked between breaths.

"Dunno mate, just disappeared." He shrugged.

"Alright, lets head back to the park." Said the leader.

Harry felt like he being pushed at all sides, like somebody way trying to disfigure him using compressed air. It stopped suddenly, shortly after he was hit by a gust of wind and toppled over. He finally opened his eyes. _Woaahh, I'm on the roof... I'M ON THE ROOF! _He started to panic.

_Now hang on a minute, _He thought to himself. _Their has to be some explanation. It's just not POSSIBLE to be there one minute and here another._

_-Of course it is, silly. _Said a chirping voice. Harry fainted.

Harry awoke a few hours later, he brushed the loose leaves off his face and opened his eyes. It was starting to get dark, and he was still stuck on the roof. He wondered for a second how he got there, then it came back to him in a rush, bring cased, appearing on the roof, the voice. _The voice! Forget the voice. _He thought. _Now how to get down from here. How did I get up? That warm feeling, which grew then I appeared here._

Harry sat down and closed his eyes. Trying to remember exactly how it felt. The wish, the raging fire. It took him a few minutes but he could feel a heat in his chest. He reached with his mind, trying to make it grow so he could move again. His brow furrowed with concentration as he tried to call it forth. After 30 seconds, he let out the breath he'd been holding and stood up in frustration.

"Dammit, I just want to be down there!" He said with a growl. Once again, the fire swelled in his chest, then 'Pop'. "YES!"

When he got home that night, his Uncle Vernon was not happy. Apparently he'd shirked his duties to the family by running off to the park, then he had tried to bully 'Dudders'. Then come home at an 'Ungodly hour'. "Probably mixing with the wrong sort." He'd said. He stayed silent to the accusations, At least this way he got the least possible amount of beatings.

Purple faced Vernon dragged him off into the living room. Told him to take off his shirt and he loosened his belt. Belt in hand and shirtless freak on the floor, he swirled round with surprising speed for a man of his size. The leather belt slapped across his back, causing a shoot of pain. It took two more hits for the bursting man to notice the other marks on the boys back. He fumed, swinging his foot into the child's rib with a sickening crack.

"What's this boy?!" He demanded.

"What's what, sir?" Harry managed to rasp out between staggered breaths.

"What's what?! Think your funny do you freak, with your freaky marks on your back! Think you scare us do you?! I'll show you scared-"

It was some time later, that a beaten and broken Harry Potter was thrown into his cupboard, wavering on the edge of consciousness _I'm going to die _He thought.

-_Not yet young one _Came the chirping voice once again. The last feeling that Harry had before he met the darkness was the raging fire within his chest. He relished in it's warmth, as his mind slipped away.

Chapter Two: Wilderness

It had been three days since Vernon Dursley beat his nephew and threw him into the cupboard. In those three days there had been no sounds, no evidence that the child had survived.

After five days of silence, the Dursley's were starting to get worried, what was happening to their perfectly normal existence?

It was on the sixth day that Petunia voiced her fears to her husband. He told her he would sort it in the morning. After all, he always had the day off work on Sunday. So they could get rid of the freak and then visit church like every other upstanding citizen.

Vernon had a plan, he was going to pick up a tent from the Mountaineering Store on the way home, then he was going to go and rent a car (He thought he was being rather clever here), then come Sunday morning, he was going to drive to Devon and find a remote field. He would pitch the tent, leave the boy and be home in time for Sunday lunch.

Molly Weasley was cooking early this morning, making sure everyone had enough to eat, come the time they all work up to start their day. She always acted like this when something was troubling her, cook to keep busy, she would say.

Something was definitely troubling her, over the last few months strange marks had appeared on her daughters body. They were not random marks, they appeared to represent animals in some way. And even in the wizarding world such things were far from normal. They did not seems to be hurting her daughter, if anything she seemed a little pleased by them. No, what was troubling Molly was why? Why now? Why those animals? Why were they there at all?

She had just set the pan to wash itself, then placed a warming charm on the tray of food before a voice shouted down the stairs.

"Mum!" Shouted Ginny, Molly's daughter.

"What is it, Ginevra! Your brothers are still in bed!"

"Not any more," Grumbled Ron as he made his way down the stairs. On auto pilot towards food on the table.

"Come see, Mum!" Beckoned Ginny.

Harry was sore, very sore. He felt like he'd been run over by a herd of elephants. _Elephant, more like. _

_-Yes, I would say that's about correct._

_The Voice!_

_-You may call me, 'The Voice' if you wish. However, I do already have a name._

_Who are you, and how did you get into my head! _Harry asked suspiciously.

-_As for my name, people call me Harold_. _And how I got in your head. That's the easy one, for you are me, and I am you._

_Okaayy. I don't get it._

_-Hmm, how do I explain this. We are two different entities, however I am yours to command. So, in summary, we are one._

_What are you then? _Harry asked, clearly confused.

_-I am a Phoenix. I live within you, for now, at least._

_Oh, right._

_-Now then, shall we get started?_

_Started on what, Harold?_

_-Well, while you were unconscious for the passing of seven suns. Your relatives thought you dead. They created a master plan to get rid of your body, which is where you are now, so first you need to wake up. Plus we have somebody to find._

_What?! Where are we? How did you know that? Find who?_

_-Calm young one. Where we are, I do not know. Who we are going to find, I do not know. How I know what I do know, is because I spent some time outside the confines of your material body on the trip over. Your uncle was quite boastful. Time to wake up, Harry._

Harry opened his eyes, to shut them immediately. The sun was bright, and it appeared to enter at a dome at his feet. Confused, he opened his eyes again, this time blinking, allowing his eyes time to adjust. It looked like he was indoors, some sort of shelter with an open doorway.

He tried to sit up but his muscles protested. Resting a moment, he tried again and managed to sit up. With a shiver, he was suddenly aware of his undress. _Topless and in the unknown. Great! _

-_Don't worry, I will help you. _As soon as the words filled his mind, he was suddenly aware of the burning fury in his chest. He felt it spread to capture his neck, arms and legs. As soon as his body was covered, the fire left, leaving his skin warm. _Great, thanks!_

_-Not a problem, Harry. For it is our job._

"Our?" The boy asked with his head to the side and face full of confusion. The bird laughed, well, chirped.

_-I see you have not yet worked out the meaning of your marks._

"Marks,-" His face slowly changed to recognition. "You mean? The wings, the tiger skin. I'm guessing your the flame.

_-You are correct, I am the flame. However, it seems you have not yet seen our new arrivals._

Harry glanced down his body, the right-hand-side of his chest donned what looked like a dog. "It's a dog,-" Harry looked closer. "-with a funny tail."

_-Funny tail, Indeed! That Harry, is a Crup._

"The looks like a Crup, dear." Molly told her child, while inspecting the marks on her daughters chest.

"What's a Crup, mum?" She asked smiling brightly.

"Well, a Crup is a wizard bred dog. I haven't seen one in years. Very viscous, very loyal to their wizard. They look like a muggle Jack Russell Terrier, apart from the tail of course." Said Molly her brow furrowed.

Ginny smiled, "Yeah, they've got a funny tail."

"Well, turn around, dear. We'll see if you have any more." Ginny slowly turn around, once her back came into view, her mother gasped. "Oh!" Her hand over her open mouth.

Ginny turned to meet her mothers gaze. "What is it, mum?"

"You've, you've got a Runespoor on your back, dear." She finished in a quiet voice.

Ginny turned her body to the full length mirror, and twisted so she could look over her shoulder. "Wow, that's big! And has three heads, no less!" She couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice. She turned back to her mother once again. She had a dark look on her face. "What's wrong, mum?"

"Ginny, dear. I want you to understand that I won't love you any less because of this."

"What is it mum, your scaring me," She whispered.

"Well, dear-" She took both of her daughters hands in her own. "-The Runespoor is commonly known to be used by Dark Wizards-"

"No!" She interrupted, her face a look of outrage. "You can't possibly think I'm a Dark Wizard! I'm six! No!" She reached for her t-shirt and fled from the room, moister in her eyes. Molly stood up, her eyes glazed over. _Why is this happening to my little girl. _She dropped her head and walked out of the room to meet the family for breakfast.

"Wow, they're cool. Three heads!" Harry exclaimed. Harold chirped his agreement. "So, what now?"

-_Might I recommend taking a look outside. See if there is anything nearby that you could eat. Don't want you starving to death, do we?_

"No, don't want that. Right then." Harry shuffled his way towards the entrance. He shielded his eyes, and squinted through the blazing sunshine. After his eyes adjusted to the influx of light he took in his surroundings.

It was a warm summers day, the tent appeared to be perched on a slight hill, apparently in the middle of nowhere. He looked round in a circle, it looked like a meadow, and rolling green hills with the odd rocky outcrop and wood. _Nothing here!_

_-Harry stop, turn around, bit more, bit more, STOP! Look far in the distance. What does it look like?_

"Looks like, like, a broken windmill. Think somebody lives there? Do you-" Harry was interrupted by his stomach.

_-I think it remembers it has eaten in over a week._

"Lets find some food-" Harry was interrupted again, this time by a faint growl. "Wish my stomach would shut up, nothing I can do about it-"

-_Harry, it's your Crup! Call it back!_

Harry spun round to see a small dog bound off into the distance. Harry started to chase it, having nowhere near the amount of speed or energy. "Wait! Stop! Come back here at once!" _It's not working! He's running away!_

_-Call to him Harry, with your mind._

_STOP, Terrier stop! _But the Terrier kept on running. Harry slowed to a walk, then slumped to the floor. "Cannot really blame it," He said in a defeated tone.

_-It will be okay, Harry. It will come back._

"No, it won't. Look at it, ran right off first chance it got. Like I said, cannot blame it, really."

_-Harry, listen to yourself._

Harry stood back up, looked back off into the distance, shrugged and started back to the tent. He was not ten feet away when startled out of his musings by a quick and surprising deep bark. Harry's head whipped round so quickly he felt dizzy. At his feet was his Crup, tongue lolling out and tail swaying happily. At the dogs feet was a dead rabbit. The Crup looked between his master and the dead rabbit. And barked again. A smile graced Harry's lips.

Harry reached down to stroke the dog. "There's a good boy, you need a name too don't you?" Harry was rewarded with another bark. "We'll think on it okay?" The dog bounded up on his front legs and barked again. Harry's smile grew a little bigger. _Rabbit for tea, Harold._

_-Yum! Need any suggestions on cooking it?_

"Yeah, that would be great. Don't really have anything to work with here..." His voice trailed off. _Yeah, that could be a problem._

_-Perhaps less than you think._

"I don't get it-" Harry said, as he started back towards the tent. "Could you explain?" He turned round, "Cmon Crup, bring the Rabbit please." The dog picked up the rabbit and walked towards him. "Put it down there, there's a good boy." The dog ran off to play somewhere. _Not too far please, Crup. Don't want to loose you. _The dog stopped and turned his head to look back before barking. He bounded off into the long grass.

-_Well done, Harry. _Harry smiled again. _-First things first, you need somewhere to cook and prepare. Look over there, Harry. That large mound of earth. Go over to it and make three piles. Space them a little apart, you will need the space._

Harry moved over to the dirt, scooped some of it up, made one pile, two piles, then a third. "Okay, I'm done."

_-Okay now, do you remember the feeling you got before I warmed you up earlier? _Harry Nodded _Good, relax, look within yourself, find the feeling. _

It took a few minute but he finally got a grasp. _-Right now, pull it to the ends of your fingers. Yes, that it's. Nearly there. _The fire was moving down his arms, the liquid heat. Once it arrived at the end, Harold spoke again. _-Okay, Harry. Now open your eyes. Look at the pile in front of you. Imagine it shifting, morphing into a stone slab. Imagine the dirt compacting, into a solid block. Imagine the block flat and grainy to the touch. Once you have the image. Force the feeling down your arms again, into your hand, into your fingers. Push it out of your hand. Keep the image in your mind, keep your hands above the dirt. Force your will, will it into existence, Harry._

After a few seconds Harry slumped forwards. _Done. Wow, that was exhausting._

_-It will be, your forcing magical manipulation without any form of focus. Open your eyes, lets see your handy work. _Harry opened up his eyes. Instantly disappointed. _Aww, man! _Harry had managed a rough square shape of compacted dirt.

_-Close, but you cannot expect to do it first try, as much as you would like too. Try it again, this time use the block you made and finish the transformation. Remember, imagine, pull your magic, force your will. Go._

The second time he managed the image he wanted. Harold asked him to repeat the task for the other two. He found that the more he did it, the quicker he could pull his 'magic' as Harold had called it, and the more he could change at once.

-_I'm proud, you did well. Now, you've got surfaces, now you need implements. Go and find a rock, repeat the previous process. Try and get the flattest, sharpest knife you can. You need another rock to make a stone stick. _

Harry who was looking for a stone looked up, a confused expression on his face. "A stone stick? Really? Why?"

_-You'll see. _Harold told him, followed by a chirp that could only be taken as a laugh.

Once Harry had finished those tasks, he set about preparing the rabbit. He had never done it before, but had a good idea based on the chickens he had once prepared. He gave it a quick once over, it looked complete. _What now?_

_-You need to use the two other slabs to create a fireplace, then use the stone stick to hold the rabbit off the fire._

_Fire, what fire? How are we going to do that?_

_-All in good time._

Harry set about making an 'L' shape using the two remaining slabs. One on the floor, the other as a backplate. He stuck the stone stick through the rabbit propped it up against the back slab so that a fire could go under it. Once that was done, Harold talked him through starting a fire, and cleaning his hands using his 'magic'. When the rabbit was happily cooking over the conjured fire, Harry turned a few questions, inward to Harold. _Harold, how do you know all this?_

_-Ahh, to be honest with you Harry, I thought this would be one of the first questions you would ask of me. It is quite simple. But requires an amount of explaining and lets say convincing._

_-Do you remember Harry, when you wanted so hard to be somewhere other than that corner near your school. Then you felt that burst of energy then, poof, you were elsewhere?_

"Yes, I remember. I felt that same fiery surge when, you warmed me too. I feel it when I do my 'magic' too." Harry was ticking off a mental check-list as he went.

-_You are getting there Harry. There are just a few more pieces of information you need. First, is that every witch and wizard has what they call, a magical core. It is the place where that 'fiery surge' as you call it, is kept when not in use. Witches and Wizards also do another phenomenon that they call 'Accidental Magic', it usually happens in emotionally charged situations, like the one you found yourself in. They believe it is because of your emotional state that you do things without meaning too. I'll let you in on a little secret Harry. That is not the case. It is controlled, just not by you._

"So, if they are not controlled by me. That obviously means they are controlled by something else. And as you have used my 'fiery surge', and you are my guardian, that leads me to believe that everyone has a guardian that watches over their 'Magical Core' until they can control it themselves.

-_Very well deducted, Harry. Better look at that rabbit too. _That brought Harry back to his senses, and he smelt burning he quickly dispelled the fire and set to break the rabbit into finger pieces with the now clean knife.

With the tasty rabbit in his stomach, he went for a walk to the nearby stream for some water. Tasks completed, and after a long day, he was feeling pretty exhausted. He waited at the tent, and watched the sun set in the distance. His first day in the wilderness had been a productive one. He called Crup back, and with him keeping watch, Harry drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Three: Ginny

Ginny sped right down the stairs, tears now flowing freely. She ran through the kitchen, out the back door and into the woods. Pulling the t-shirt that was in her hands, over her head. She sat on a rock and started to talk.

"I'm not a Dark Wizard, I can't be." "These aren't bad, I just know it!" "I don't want Mummy to hate me, I did nothing wrong."

After a few hours of her internal musing and a few snippets of audible one sided conversation, she moved to a patch of green grass. Ginny was lying on her back, looking past the canopy of the nearby tree's towards the clouds. She watched those clouds move in the wind all day.

When it started to get dark, the clouds harder to make out, and her stomach rumbling having not eaten all day. She set off back to the house. _Maybe, just maybe, Mummy won't think I'm evil any more._

When Ginny reached The Burrow, she slipped in through the side door and made her way upstairs. A few minutes later in some clean clothes and feeling refreshed, she entered the kitchen, her family paused at her entrance.

"Come on in, Firefly. Why don't you take a seat and we'll get you some food?" Said Arthur her farther with a slightly forced smile.

She moved over to her usual place on the table, as her dad spooned some mash potato onto her plate. Ginny kept her face looking down towards her lap, trying to avoid eye contact. The twins were looking from Ginny, to their mother, who wore an expressionless mask, then on to their farther. They did this a few times.

"Does somebody-" Started George

"-Want to tell us-" Said Fred

"-What's going on?"

Ron who had previously been oblivious to the mounting tension in the room, looked up from his plate after shoving another fork of mash and pork into his mouth. "'Eahh, whas 'oing-" He swallowed what he had in his mouth, after a dark look from his mother. "-On?" He too was looking between his sister, mum and dad.

"Well, something has been happening to your sister,-" Arthur started. "Some mysterious marks have been appearing on her body over the summer." He turned to watch his daughters reaction,

"Cool! What do they-" Said Fred.

"-Look like? They don't-"

"-Hurt do they? Ginny immediately brightened. Her heart warmed a fraction knowing that they at least cared for her health. _Maybe they don't think I'm a Dark Wizard after all! _

"No, they don't hurt. I always had one of them. That one was always-" She said standing to point to the lower-left-hand-side of her back. "-There."

"Wow, that looks, is that a lion?" Gaped Ron

"Lioness, Ronald." Added Percy, who had kept quiet until now.

"Then when I was about five, I got the Tigress skin on the other side." She twisted her hips to show the other side of her lower back. She received a "Cool!" from Ron, and a "Wicked!" from the twins. She smiled.

"And at the beginning of this summer, I got Eagle wings around my neck. Then this morning, I found a dog on my chest and a snake on my upper back." She finished quietly and shot a quick look at her mum.

"So, what's all-" Started George

"-the fuss about-"

"-then?" Asked the twins, he tension in the room grew a few levels as Ginny and Arthur watched Molly.

She sighed. "I'm going to see Albus in the morning, to see if he knows what they could be, or what they mean. He'll be able to look around for some answers. Hopefully, we will see about getting them removed." She finished and turned to put her plate in the sink.

"I don't want them removed!" Shouted Ginny.

"Ginevra! You have a Runespoor on your back! You are having it removed and that is final!" She turned back around. There was a stunned silence at the table. Everyone turned to look at the youngest.

"So you still think I'm a Dark Wizard?" She asked in a whisper, moister in her eyes, and not for the first time that day. She looked around with pleading eyes. Upon seeing their stunned expressions, she ran from the room, and up the stairs to cry herself to sleep.

_Running through the long grass, on four short legs was strange, Ginny decided. She and a 'friend' were following a scent, she didn't know what it was, but he seemed to know. They bounded down the hill, through the overgrown grass towards a large twisted tree. They approached it's large roots, and just below there was a hole. Her friend barked once, before bounding on his front legs then shooting down the hole._

"Firefly, wake up." The soft words of her father broke through to the dream world.

"Wha'?" She asked as she started to awake from her peaceful slumber.

"Wha'? I'm getting up, I'm getting up. I'll start breakfast in a second." The wet tickling sensation on cheek didn't stop. He swept the side of his face with his hand, then turned over. "Woof!"

-_I think he wants you to wake up, Harry._

Harry shot up, eyes wide. _What?! _He looked around it came back to him slowly. _Oh, sorry Harold, Crup. _"Woof!"

"Crup, any chance of another rabbit?" "Woof!" The dog bounded out the opening. _What are we going to do today, then?_

_-Might I suggest you take a trip to that building in the distance. You can set up camp on the edge of the wood. Pack the tent while you wait for Crup to return, you can set off once you've eaten. It shouldn't take you long._

Harry sought out the packaging, which was inside the tent, and followed the dismantle instructions. Once it was packed in it's tight bag, he quickly went off to the stream for a drink before Crup got back. With the rabbit prepared and above the fire, Harry started to practice with his other guardians.

"So, Harold. How do I do this? I did it by accident last time." Asked Harry as he sat near the fire.

_-It is really quite simple to call them into existence. Last time, you were hungry and wanted a way to search, even if your conscious mind did not think of it, your unconscious did. Let's try something small. Perhaps the Eagle. Now the easy part, call up you magic, and will your Guardian Eagle to exist. _

Harry sat there for a few minutes, trying to force his will in a similar way as he had done the previous day. However, that method did not seem to be working for him. "What, isn't it working? Nothing is happening." He said with a frown.

_-I believe you are not focusing your will correctly. You are trying to conjure an Eagle from nothing, and your doing it how you think that Eagle should look. What you need to do, is call it from within yourself, let the Eagle lead the way, but give it the power it needs to do your will. Hmm. Perhaps you could try a sentence to focus yourself for now?_

"Yeah, I see what you mean. I just presumed-" His eyes cast down.

_-Don't worry. You were not to know. Okay, this time, call up your magic, then say the words 'I call upon my Guardian Eagle' and push the magic out your hands as you do so. Go. _

After his third try, Harry thought he sounded pretty ridiculous. He thought it sounded like something out of one of those cheesy video games, that his cousin Dudley used to play. He laughed at himself. _You haven't been wrong yet, have you Harold?_

_-I cannot remember _He chirped. _Believe in yourself, Harry. Besides, there is nobody here, so there is no need to feel embarrassed._

Harry tried again, he almost shouted the words in emphasis, he had every intention of calling his guardian this time round. But was still surprised when a huge eagle flew out of his hands. _Wooah! Eagle, come down please. _He projected his thought towards it.It flew round before landing at his feet with a chirp. It was less musical than Harold's, it also had a rough edge to it.

Harry started to realise why his original attempts did not work. Before him was not a normal eagle. Instead of the majestic brown and white combination, the bird was black, with white highlights. It looked like the edge of each feather was tinged with white, it caused a very odd effect on the bird. The most noticeable part, were it's deep green eyes.

"Your beautiful." Harry said, his voice had a sense of awe about it. "Your wings look like they have lots of tiny lightning bolts, from where your feathers cross over." He reached his hand forward slowly. His fingers stroked it's chest feathers, they vibrated slightly when it emitted another chirp. "You need a name, can't call you Bird, can I? What do you think Harold?"

During the silence, Harry removed the rabbit from fire and slowly began eating it. He offered some to his guardians, the Eagle refused but the Crup ate happily. Half way through the meal, Harry suddenly sported a grin. "Wow, it's so obvious." He said between bites. "How about, Lightning?"

_-Harry, that's terrible! _Harold chirped

Harry frowned, "I don't see you offering any suggestions. So it's going to be Lightning." The Eagle spread it's wings then chirped, as if to shrug and say, "Whatever".

Food finished and tent in hand, Harry set off while the sun was directly above in the sky. It took him a few hours to walk the ten or so miles. When he reached the wood, he found a secluded spot and pitched the tent. It was starting to get dark, but he thought he would have a quick look around before cooking another rabbit and settling down for the night.

He was about fifteen minutes walk from his camp when he heard crying. Then a voice, "I'm not a Dark Wizard-" Sniff. "As much as everyone thinks I am." Sniff.

Harry hid behind a tree. then glanced around. Sitting on a patch of lush green grass was a girl, not much younger than himself, he thought. Her head was in her hands, she was crying. Her beautiful red hair acted like a curtain hiding her face from view. _I wonder what's wrong_ He thought.

_-Go comfort her, Harry._

_What?! I don't know how! How can I help her? I'm just a freak! _Harry started to panic. Looking for a means of escape. He didn't want to be in this situation.

_-Harry, calm down! Next time you call yourself a freak, I swear I'll give you an electric shock. Now, go to her, tell her she's going to be okay._

Harry didn't know why he was listening to that stupid voice in his head, as he crept towards the crying girl. _I'm going to make it worse. I'm going to make it worse, I just know it. _ Three more steps and he was beside her, he placed a shaky hand on her shoulder.

"Shh, everything's going to be alright." He said in the calmest voice he could manage.

"Y-you think?"

"Well, erm, I don't know. But the best you can do is hope, right?" That was apparently something close to what she wanted to hear, she flung herself at him and cried into his shoulder. Shocked by the sudden change in position, Harry hesitantly put his hands around her.

It took several minutes for the crying to slow to the odd hitch of her chest. Eyes still closed, she whispered into his skin, "Thank you."

"Your, urm, your welcome." He said looking away from the girl in his arms, to hide the sudden rush of heat to his face. He turned to look down at her, that's when saw the pattern on her neck. Just like him, she had Eagle wings. "Hey! You've got eagle wings on your neck!" He said much too loudly.

The girls head snapped up, tears starting again, she looked right into his eyes. "Suppose you think I'm a dark wizard too!" She screamed as she jumped from his arms and started running away.

"Wait! I have them too!" He called after her. But she did not stop. _She has marks too._

Later that night, Ginny lay in her bed. She was thinking back to what had happened earlier that evening. That boy who had let her cry on him. She didn't realise it then, but he wasn't wearing a shirt. _Oh my gosh, how embarrassing. _She had felt strangely safe in his arms, she knew she was too young to be thinking about boyfriends and girlfriends, but there was something about him.

Running through the last moments in her head. _He had noticed the marks on my neck. Oh No! I screamed about Dark Wizards! He could have been a muggle! I'm going to be even more trouble! _She sighed. The last few days had not been good. He had said something as she left. _What was it? Oh I don't know. I'll come to me._

She had her eyes closed, on the verge of sleep when it hit her.

_'Wait! I have them too!' He called. _She sat bolt upright, eyes wide.

Chapter Four: Dumbledore

An elderly looking man was sat at his eagle claw desk, within his circular office. The man was currently working on the little paperwork he had before the start of the new term, you see, this man was the Headmaster of what people called, 'The greatest school in Wizarding Britain', Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

A one, Albus Dumbledore, was stroking his beard with one hand, while his quill hovered over the signature section of a form in indecision. _Do I want to buy a years supply now, or just purchase them as they're needed? _This was a tough call for the Headmaster. Who knows how many truth-serum-laced Lemon Drops he would need for the coming school year?

"What do you think, Fawkes?" He asked his trusted companion, a lovely gold and red phoenix.

Fawkes was upset, his gave the Headmaster a look which could only be interpreted as 'Contempt'. Albus on the other hand, shrugged the look off. _Must be coming near to his burning day._

After a few more seconds, he dropped his quill deciding to hold out a little longer. He reached into his left hand draw and removed a small bag, popped a sweet into his mouth and reclined in his seat.

The silence was broken some ten minutes later when the fireplace flashed green and the head of Arabella Figg appeared.

"Ah, Arabella. What can I do for you this morning?"

Mrs Figg had just gotten back to home at Wisteria Walk in Little Whinging, when she started hearing the rumours. 'That skinny little orphan boy at the Dursley's?'

"Excuse me, what's this about the Dursley's? I've been out of town, terribly behind in the latest gossip." Mrs Figg asked her neighbour with a smile as she passed.

"Oh, it's just dreadful! You just have to join me for some tea while I explain."

"Certainly, let me just put my bag in the house."

A few minutes later saw Arabella sitting inside a frilly living room. There were plush light pink carpets, and antique cabinets. Everything was free from dust, and there was an abundance of frilly lace-like drapes. _How do people live in homes like this?_

"So, about the Dursley's?" She prompted.

"Oh yes, like I said, most dreadful!" A look of mock horror on her face. "They say that a last week, the Dursley child almost died after the orphan boy attacked him! The Finnagan's had their dinner party cut short when the poor Dursley boy came back all covered in blood.

"It's a surprise that a small child could cause so much damage." She said taking a sip of her tea. "Well anyway, they took the boy to the hospital. And the skinny boy ran away shortly after that."

_That is most unlike, Little Harry. Always the quiet ones. _She conversed a while longer as she finished her tea. Once finished she took her leave. _I have to call Albus, he would want to hear about this. Maybe he can work out what happened. _

Five minutes later and Mrs Figg was inside the Headmaster's office finishing her story.

"..so they say he ran away. Whatever happened, Little Harry isn't at the Dursley's."

"This is most disturbing. Most disturbing, indeed." The Headmaster turned to Fawkes. "Can you find him?" The phoenix shook it's head. _Can't, or won't? _He frowned.

"Well then, I presume the first order of business would be to find out if the Dursley's know anything. We must find Harry, he is at great risk away from Privet Drive." _And he's no good to my plans if I cannot control him. _He added silently.

With a wave of his wand, the Headmasters blue and silver robes were transformed into a Muggle business suit. Wasting no time, he moved to the fireplace where he followed Arabella back to her home. A short walk later and he was standing outside Number 4 Privet Drive. He knocked.

"Hello, Mr Dursley. Mind if I come in?" He asked politely.

Vernon looked at the old man with an incredibly long beard. "Who are you, what do you want?" He asked in a raised voice. A couple of the neighbours were craning their necks over the fence at strange angles to get a good look.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, I am here to talk to you about your nephew, Harry Potter." He answered calmly.

"ANOTHER FREAK!" He bellowed.

"Mr Dursley, may we take this inside, your causing a scene." He said with a frown, while glancing to the people peering over the fence to his side.

"Fine!" He led Mr Dumbledore through to the lounge, where he took the offered seat.

"Vernon, dear. Who was at the door?" Petunia asked while walking into the room. She stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed the elderly man. He face showed fear, which quickly changed to outrage. "YOU! What are YOU doing in my house!" She screeched.

"Hello, Petunia. I'm here to talk about Harry Potter, don't suppose you know where he went do you?"

"How would we know?! We already informed the authorities when we filed a missing persons report!"

"Would you tell me what happened?"

"I'll tell you, then you can get out of my house!" She shouted. "That little freak put Dudikins into hospital, and when we get back, we try to punish him and he ran away. Ungrateful freak! After all we've done for him. Now, Get Out!"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot do that. I must know what happened."_ Legilimens!_

"_He came home all covered in blood! He said the freak did it!" Cried his wife. His face was burning, the rage building._

"_GET IN HERE NOW, FREAK! Thinks he can get away with no chores, then he does that to Dudley and to think he can walk in at this ungodly hour. He's obviously messing with the wrong sort. I'll show him." He finished in a mutter. _Where is he?! _Thought Vernon. He stormed off into the hallway and dragged the boy back into the lounge._

"_Get that shirt off, now!" He bellowed as his chubby fingers worked is belt. _

_Three hits later, he turned to look at the worthless freak. His rage spiked, _Did he honestly think he could scare me, with his freaky marks.

Dumbledore skipped to the next relevant memory.

"_Mr Dursley, your wife is on line three." _

"_I'll take it in my office." He growled as he waddled past. "What you waiting for?! Put the phone down!" He snapped. With a glare, she placed the phone down._

"_What is it, pudding?" He asked when he picked up the telephone receiver._

"_Vernon, I think you might have finally killed him. It's been six days, and still there's no sound. What you going to do? What would the neighbours think?!"_

"_I'll sort it, Petunia. It'll all be over tomorrow, and that freak will be out of our lives forever."_

"_Okay, don't be late. I'm cooking your favourite."_

Later that day.

Outdoor Discounts, perfect! _He thought as he moved through the doors. _Don't want to spend too much money on the dead freak.

_The shop assistant watched as a rather large man walked through door. _What's a man like that doing here? _"Good evening, sir. How may I be of service?"_

_Vernon was looking round, not really paying attention. _No upper-class citizen would sleep on one of those, this place is outrageous. _"Hmm, yeah, I need a tent. Cheapest you have."_

"_Very well, right this way. Do you go camping much?" Asked the young man, his smile hidden._

"_Oh, yes, yes. My son and I go all the time. He wanted his own tent. We are going up Snowdonia in Wales next weekend, you see."_

"_I've been up, you must like walking then?" He was trying very hard to keep a straight face._

"_Very much, very much." He assistant barked a laugh, and quickly silenced himself. Vernon glared._

"_Well, here you are sir. Cheapest we do, it's a two man tent. Should be perfect for a growing boy." He said with a grin._

Sunday Morning.

Yes, he's dead. _Vernon tried very hard to fight down his grin. He rolled the boy in his mattress and lugged him into the back of his black rental car. He went back inside to get a few more hours sleep before he drove into the countryside come morning._

Few hours later.

_Vernon had just finished putting up the tent. Sweat was dripping all over. His clothes were wet in the heavy summer sun. _Stupid bloody thing, who'd sleep in that? _He shoved the boy inside before getting in the car again. A few miles down the road, he stopped and got out._

_Walking a few meters from the car dragging the mattress behind him. Using a little petrol, he set it alight before getting back in the car to head home. Only the incoming meal on his mind._

To say Dumbledore was shocked was an understatement. The-Boy-Who-Lived was dead, his plans were now ruined. He couldn't even find the body, Dursley had no idea where he had gone. He withdrew from his mind. Vernon was unconscious on the couch. Petunia was just sitting wide eyed as her husband was attacked. Dumbledore turned to her, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"You have done a grave crime." He said in a low voice.

"I-I don't know what your talking about!"

"Oh, I think you do. Potter is dead, and along with him, the wizarding world. You have no idea the gravity of what you have done!" The usually calm grandfather figure was now surrounded by a blazing aura. He was angry.

"I don't care about you freaks!" She stuck her nose up.

"I will see you again soon. You can bet your life on it." He growled. And with a 'Pop' he was gone.

That evening found an older looking Headmaster at his desk. He poured himself another glass of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey.

"This shouldn't have happened" He told his bird. "I had everything planned out. I would send him to live with the Dursley's. I knew they would never love the boy, but that didn't matter. Harry needed to be hardened, used to the worse sides of life. Not cuddled and sheltered. With me at his side, he would become the Champion he needed to be. Under my guidance and control." He took a sip.

"I was going to recommend to Nicolas, with Tom searching for means of resurrection, that I keep the stone here during Harry's first year. That would draw Tom." Dumbledore sighed. "No use thinking about the past, and what will never be."

The next morning brought another surprise for Albus Dumbledore. At seven on the dot, the fire turned green and Molly Weasley's head appeared.

"Hello Albus, are you free? I want to talk to you about my daughter, Ginny."

"Comes right through, Molly." A second later, the Weasley matriarch appeared in the Headmaster's office.

"Good morning, what can I do for you?" Asked Albus in a cheery tone, but his usual twinkle was missing.

"It's my youngest, Ginny. She woke up yesterday with marks all over her body." The worry was evident in her voice.

"What sort of marks, might I ask?" _Harry had some strange marks too. I wonder._

"Well, they look like colourless tattoo's more than anything. She has had one of them all her life, but we weren't concerned. But recently, she's gained more. Before she had two. Now she has five. I'm worried, Albus." Wringing her hands on her lap.

"Could you describe them for me?" _This is getting more interesting every second. _

"She has a Lioness, and a patch of Tiger skin on her lower back. A R.. .Runespoor on her middle back." She took a moment to steady her breath. "She has Eagle wings on her neck, and a Crup on her chest." She looked at Albus expectantly.

"Curious," He muttered. "Molly, I have some ideas, but perhaps you should wait until tomorrow. That will give me the time to research." She didn't look much better. He decided to throw her a bone. "And then maybe we can see if we can remove them." She looked up at this. He smiled.

"Thank, thank you, Albus. Please, come right round once your ready." With that she left via the floo.

Chapter Five: Other Half

Ginny awoke with a start, last nights dream was similar to yesterdays, she couldn't make any sense of it. It seemed like she was the animal still.

Last night she had ran through the meadows with the Crup again, they had continued into the woods and into a clearing, she knew this place well. Her 'friend' barked, bouncing on his front legs. She sat down on her rear legs and waited.

It wasn't long before he shot off again, the small thing ducked behind a tree, she made to follow; what she saw made her stop.

Right there on the other side of the tree. _Those beautiful green eyes. _They seemed to call her on a level far beyond her understanding. She realised where she had seen those eyes before. _The boy! _And then she woke.

_I have to find him. _She jumped out of bed, threw off her pyjamas and started to rummage through her trunk for some clothes.

Her mother opened the door a crack, she was going to wake her daughter for breakfast. Last night had been rough for her, she knew she had broken her promise, but her daughter made her feel uneasy. And she hated herself for feeling that way. _I hope Albus can do something._

"Ginny dear, would you like to come and help me fix breakfast?" Ginny looked up from the trunk, only to look back down and throw another unsuitable summer dress over her shoulder. Molly Sighed. "Suit yourself, just know that after breakfast, you shouldn't run off too far. The headmaster is coming round, and he might want to talk to you."

Ginny gave a brief nod, and started once again on her quest for clothes.

When Ginny reached the kitchen some thirty minutes later, she was greeted by the smells of a Weasley breakfast. Freshly cooked meats, egg, and buttered toast. Knives scraped against plates, and idle conversation was held between the males of the house.

Ginny moved into the room, and took her usual place across from Ron. Sounds seemed to fade away, as actions stopped, as they watched the youngest. She grabbed a piece of toast from the rack in the center of the table. She stopped after reaching for the marmalade.

"What?" She asked, her tone sharp.

"Ginny!" Her mother scolded as she moved more food to the table.

"Nothing, you...you look nice today." Offered Ron, before making a hasty retreat towards the stairs. He was followed soon after by the twins, off to do, 'god knows what'.

Butter and marmalade covered toast in hand, Ginny moved towards the back door. "I'm going outside."

"Not too far, dear. Remember what I said earlier."

Harry had been sitting in the clearing for nearly two hours. He was starting to get a little disappointed. He wanted to talk to that girl again, but he didn't dare visit the house. He would let her come to him.

He was sitting cross legged in the end of the clearing furthest away from the building, his back to the empty space. Harold had told him he had to strengthen his core, and that like other muscles constant usage helped them grow.

This was how Ginny found him just after mid day, on the outside it appeared like he was meditating, which in a sense, he was. Harold had him calling upon as much of his magic as he could, but trying do so without letting any out of his body, relaxing his hold, then repeating. Harry thought it was a lot like Dudley's weights, although he didn't seem to use them much, he noticed the difference they made.

With his focus turned completely inwards, he did not realise her approach. She took careful steps towards him, she didn't know who he was or what he could do. When she was a few feet away, she took in his stance. He was sitting cross legged, his back straight and his hands placed flat against his abdomen. His breath was calm, but every few seconds he would take a quick deep breath and hold it. He had a light layer of sweat over his head.

She took one last step before she decided to announce her presence. "H-Hello?"

What happened next she had not been expecting, in a swift movement the boy did a forward roll which he ended with a twist of his body. He faced her full on, hands placed outwards, palms flat.

She took a hasty step back, his skin had a small rich dark green hue to it, the same green as his eyes. _His eyes! _She gasped. The dark green irises swirled in raging circles. They looked at her, through her, she stood entrapped by his stare. His eyes seemed to slow to a stop, and as quickly as that the raging stare was gone. "I'm sorry." He finally said.

She didn't reply, she just dropped onto the floor and looked at him.

"I'm Harry, what's your name?" Harry asked with a curious tilt of the head.

"G-Ginny, what was that? I've never seen anyone do that before."

"What was what?" He asked, not understanding.

"You were green, and your eyes! Oh-How stupid of me, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have crept up on you. And you were obviously busy. I'll come back another time." She made to leave, when a hand caught her wrists.

"You can stay. I was here waiting anyway." He said sitting back down.

"You were waiting for me?" Ginny asked a little suspicious.

"Yeah, I didn't get a chance to talk to you yesterday, you just started shouting something about Dark wizards, whatever they are, and you ran off." He shrugged.

"Oh, sorry. I was a little upset. Everyone thinks my marks are a bad thing, and I just thought-"

"I know what you mean, my Uncle didn't like them either." He interrupted her solemnly. "But then again, he didn't like anything about me, so it wasn't much of a shock."

"What did you do when he found out?"

"Not a lot really. He beat me, then I woke up in a tent just over the hill." He looked down, "They locked me up for a week, and when I didn't wake up, they thought I was dead. Still think I'm dead." He shrugged again.

"Are you trying to get back?" She asked in concern.

"Get back? Would you go back? They tried to kill me!"

"Sorry, I didn't think-"

"Don't worry about it."

"So, what are you going to do now? You're all alone."

"No I'm not. I've got Harold, Digger and Lightning." He said with a smile.

"Who?" She looked around. When she didn't see anybody she looked back at the boy in front of her.

"My new family," He jumped to his feet. "May I present, the bouncing Crup, Digggeeerrrrr!" He swept his hands to the side in a dramatic gesture. From behind a little terrier like dog came bounding out of the bushes. Ginny giggled at his showmanship.

"A round of applause for Digger, thank you, thank you." He bowed, "Next up, nobody has seen an Eagle as beautiful as he, from the sky, ladies and gentlemen, may I present, Ligghhttnninngg!" With another gesture, and black dot flew towards the ground from a nearby tree.

Ginny gasped when she caught sigh of him. _He is beautiful. _"They look like lightning bolts," She said quietly, still a little in awe.

"Yup! My family, meet Ginny." He dropped to the floor, and smiled at her.

-_Move slowly, Harry. She obviously doesn't know the meaning yet. Give her time to adjust._

_Of course. _He thought.

"Thank you, Harry. I haven't laughed in days."

"Your welcome. How old are you then?"

"I'm almost 7. My birthday is soon." She smiled.

"Cool, I'm almost 8 then, my birthday is at the end of the month, I think." He looked like he was trying to remember.

"You don't know when you birthday is? How can you not know?" She looked slightly outraged.

"I told you my Uncle didn't like me." Looking down again, he seemed embarrassed by his treatment.

"Oh Harry! That's terrible!" She moved across the distance between them, and wrapped him in a hug. He went rigid under her arms. "What's the matter?" She asked, concerned.

"N-Nothing. I just never had a hug before. It's new, sorry." He whispered.

"It's okay," She squeezed him on last time after he relaxed and let him go. "So, what were you doing before. You looked like you were meditating."

"I suppose. I was trying to strengthen my core. I was getting pretty good at it I think." He said with a thoughtful expression, the earlier discomfort forgotten.

"Your core, what's that? I think I heard my older brother talk about it once, I think."

_Is she magical? Can she do it?_ He thought.

-_Yes, I think she is. If your still in doubt ask her, it might be fun to teach her._

_Teach her? What could I teach her? I don't know anything!_

_-Come now, little one. _He chirped. _You know a lot about the control of magic. She is bound to know very little._

"Harry?" Harry looked at Ginny, she was looking at him weird.

"What?"

"You sort of spaced out a second, I asked you a question."

"Oh, sorry. I...I was thinking. Can I ask you a question?" He looked at her. _She's really pretty. _He thought, a slight blush coming to his cheeks. He looked away.

-_Listen up, lover boy. _Harold chirped at him.

_Lover boy!? No I'm not, eww. _Harold chirped in louder in his head. He shook himself, looking at her again.

Harry steeled himself, this was a make or break. Taking a deep breath, he whispered. "Are you magical?"

"Yes I am," She said slowly. "My brothers and parents, are wizards and witches." She didn't want to scare him away. But he had asked the question.

"Oh, that's good then." Ginny sighed in relief. _Don't want to loose a friend as soon as I've made it.._ "Do you want to try then?"

"Okay." He scooted across so he was sitting in front of her, and took both of her hands.

"Okay, I want you to close your eyes and listen to my voice," He whispered. "Have you ever done accidental magic?" She nodded. "Okay, try to remember the feeling you got before you did it. Look within yourself, for me, it was a tiny spark. But I don't know what it's going to be like for you, it could be different."

After a few minutes, she nodded again. "I've found something, like a light wind, a tickle in my chest."

"Now, what I want you to try and do is pull on it. Then relax, then pull a little more. And just keep doing that, while not allowing it out of your body. You'll be able to summon more, and more quickly. Keep going as long as you can, I'm going to start as well."

A few hours later and two children, holding hands were still trying to strengthen their cores. Neither noticed the faint golden glow around their hands.

It was then that Digger came bounding into the clearing, and ran straight up to Harry and nudged his arm. Releasing the grip he forgot he was still holding, he opened his eyes and looked at the crup.

A few seconds later Ginny also opened her eyes. That's when they both heard that calling.

"Ginny, somebody is calling you. You best get back." He stood and offered his hand to help pull her up.

"Yeah, sounds like mum," She sounded disappointed. "Do you need anything, while I'm inside? What are you eating?"

"Some bread, or fruit would be nice. I'm eating rabbit at the moment." He said with a shrug.

"I'll try, then I'll come right back. It was nice to meet you, Harry." She said with a smile.

"It was nice to meet you too, Ginny." With that she rushed off towards the house.


	2. Story 2 - Exile

Story 2: Exile - I honestly don't remember too much of this story, might have to go back and read it with you guys. :) 8k Words (3 Chapters) Sorry if you looked at this before this edit. It's turns out that my chapters weren't as formatted as I thought. :) Do let me know if there are any other mistakes. :P

Summary: Harry is faced with a series of Unfortunate Events, in true Harry Potter style, he bounces back better than ever before!

Authors Note: Basically this is my attempt at a piece of Fan Fiction which makes use of the total lack of Ancient Runes description. After reading RuneMaster by Tigerman, I had a few ideas which mixed with ideas from several other Fan Fic's I had read to create this. This will be my first attempt at Romance, however it will not be a focal point of the story.

Many ideas I use you will likely recognise from elsewhere, this is not intentional. You get to a point after reading so many Fan Fic's that you forget what you've read, and what you thought up. I can say that any idea represented will have come from a Fanfic on my Favourite's List.

I don't often dedicate a lot of time towards writing Fan fiction, so this project might be a long time coming.

I hope you enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and some of the ideas used in this piece of Fan Fiction, I do however own the way the piece is put together to create this story.

**Prologue**

A black haired and green eyed boy walked down the stairs of the house in which he lived. It wasn't really his home, he only had one home and that was the first place he was really accepted for who he was, kinda.

Ever since he had returned back from Hogwarts, things hadn't felt right. His feelings were confirmed a few weeks later by the appearance of Dementors in Little Whinging. _Those flipping things always cause so much trouble. _He couldn't believe it; a letter came. 'Expelled', it said, expelled from the only place he called home because for some reason there just happened to be a couple of Dementors in Surrey trying to suck his soul out...

He walked through the hall into the kitchen-diner; he was hoping that his Aunt would be out, shopping or something. He knew his uncle wouldn't be there, and that his cousin would be out terrorising the local children. Upon entering the room he knew that it wasn't his day; yet again he had the feeling of dread stuck in the pit of his stomach.

Sitting at the table was his Aunt, just sitting there; her hands wrapped around a cup of steaming tea. It appeared as if she was waiting for something. _Most probably me, knew I couldn't survive forever without food. _casually wondered if she was going to gloat, maybe try getting me into some more trouble before somebody came; which they definitely would, The-Boy-Who-Lived had been expelled after all.

"There is still some water in the kettle, there is some ham in the fridge too, help yourself." She said without looking up from her cooling mug.

"Um―okay." Harry said, deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.

A quick scan of the fridge revealed some edible food, which he quickly threw between some pieces of bread and butter. He poured himself a cup of tea, before heading for the door.

"H―harry, wait." She called out. Harry turned round to meet her eyes, "Yeah?" He knew it had been too good to be true. _Damn it!_

"Come and eat at the table, you don't need to go upstairs."

Harry looked at her with disbelief, "What?"

"I said, come and eat at the table." She looked up to meet his eyes.

"If I must" He muttered turning around to head for the table where he sat opposite his Aunt and started eating.

Towards the end of the sandwich, his Aunt looked up again and watched Harry finish when he met her eye with a questioning look, she started talking again.

"How are you, Harry?" She asked with some concern.

Harry just looked at her with some scepticism, "Fine, why do you ask?" His tone was slightly sharper than earlier.

"Well, I got a letter from your school telling me that you got into a fight at the end of the term, and that it was quite serious. It said another student was harmed at the time."

Harry barked out a laugh at the understatement, before asking the only real the question that he had about this whole situation, "Why?"

"Why, what?"

"Do you care? You've never taken any notice before, why now?" He asked.

"Harry, I have always cared. But as you know, I've never been able to show it, with your uncle around. I have tried, I really have." She said quietly.

Harry scoffed, "Yeah right!" Harry got up to leave when his aunt spoke again, "Harry―please―"

"Begging me now?" His voice was cold, "Maybe you should have thought about this a long time ago, a long long―"

"I WAS SCARED, ALRIGHT?" She rose from her chair as she shouted, before instantly deflating with a defeated exhale, back into her seat. "I was scared," She said in a whisper. "Scared, to fall in love with you, then when your time came, you'd be whisked off into a world I don't belong. Your uncle, you know how he is; everything has to perfect, normal. He used my fear, turning me against you, little by little. The lovely son of my sister Lily, to a devil's spawns." She shook her head in extenuation.

"Right―" Started a newly seated Harry.

"I had dreams you know." Harry looked at her oddly.

"I see that look you're giving me Harry, 'you had dreams?!'―" She laughed a hollow laugh. "I never wanted this," She waved around. "To be stuck in a house, to gossip on neighbours for entertainment, to be married to that man. It sounds funny now."

"Then why did you then?" Harry asked, generally curious about where this was going.

"When I found out that your mother was going to get married, I was jealous. Why was it that Lily, sweet precious Lily got everything. I was so jealous; I did the stupidest thing I could do; I started dating the first person that would. It wasn't long before I got pregnant. Trapped. Then you arrived at our doorstep and that was the first time I truly admitted my mistake to myself, I guess that just fed my resentment, even from the grave Lily could show me she was right, and I was wrong, again." His aunt was crying now.

"Look where I am now; married to a whale. All my son wants to be is like his dad. I know he's been off causing trouble, but how am I meant to stop him? It was just so easy to blame Lily for the disaster my life became."

Harry got up to leave the room, as he was crossing the threshold, he heard his aunt choke out, "I'm truly sorry Lily, I really am."

It wasn't long until his uncle came back, and just like everything else that day it went off the deep end. The feeling of dread returned once again when the sound of a car door bounced through the house; his uncle was home.

Harry was lying on his bed; it was only a matter of time before his uncle walked through the front door, called for his aunt, only to find her crying her eyes out at the kitchen table. Result, 'The freak did something', followed closely by an enraged whale of an uncle thundering up the stairs to beat the crap out of him.

Harry could just hear the scrape of a key against the lock and the door open.

Suddenly a person appeared in his room along with a crack of displaced air. He watched with shocked amusement when the women proceeded to trip over her foot and stumble to the floor with a _thump_.

It was with the fall that Harry snapped out of his state, grabbed his wand and pointed it at the intruder.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, or what you're doing just popping into my room like that, but―"

"BOY, what's all this racket about, don't make me come up there―" His uncle interrupted. "Petunia dear, where―! I'LL KILL YOU!" His uncle bellowed has his started to race up there stairs. _Predictable..._

"Vernon stop, he didn't do anything!" He heard is aunt cry from below.

"As you can see, now isn't the best time for you to be standing in my room." He growled out in frustration.

"Didn't do anything?! First Dudders, and now you; this freakishness has gone on long enough !" His uncle shouted from just beyond the door.

"What?" She stared at Harry in disbelief.

"Don't Vernon!" She shouted again.

"I mean, that if he sees you in here, on top of all the other shit then he's―" Harry was cut off as the door to his room slammed open. The occupants of the room turned to the noise, frozen.

"I'M GOING TO KI―**WHO ARE YOU?**!" Raged Vernon, the colour of his face deepening ever further. Vernon eyed the women, robes, stick, _one of them!_

_######_

"Vernon, **please don't**!" His aunt sobbed.

Harry watched his uncle as he raged. He knew her being there wasn't going to end well. _But nooo, she had question everything!_ He watched his uncle's eyes as they flickered over the woman, before darting to her wand which was still clasped in her hand. His eyes widened in recognition before narrowing. They had a glint; the glint of murderer. His uncles famous homicidal rage.

Harry zoned out, the adrenaline pumped into his system. His uncle bellowed something before charging into the room. Time was in slow motion.

His uncle charged, the woman's eyes widened further before the colour drained from her face. She was still frozen. Harry vaulted off the bed, one hand reached up to push her back.

"Please stop!" His aunt's cries falling on deaf ears.

Vernon's arm reached back ready to deliver a socking blow to her face. He didn't notice her moving backwards or his nephew appearing in his view. Replacing the woman's place in the room, seconds later a sickening crack reverberated throughout the room as Vernon's fist connected with the side of Harry's face.

It was then that Vernon noticed the changes, shock quickly faded, as his rage returned, he'd seen red. _I'll kill him!_

_######_

Petunia watched as her nephew vaulted off the bed, pushing the rooms other occupant backwards, to then take her brute of a husbands fist to the face, knocking him to the floor.

Vernon seemed to pause for a second, before starting to viscously pound on the child which was now curled into a ball. The other women in just as much shock as her. _It's finally gone too far, he's going to kill him. _With that statement, her chest seemed to constrict. She found it suddenly harder to breath; all attempts to stop her husband failed.

With a last ditched attempt, she screamed with everything she had. She poured all her emotion; her needs, her fears, the distant love for the child bleeding on the floor.

"_**STOP!**_ " She felt her energy rush from her; the lights shuddered, and everyone in the room froze.

_######_

Vernon Dursley stared at his wife in shock.

Tonks stared at Harry, then Petunia, in shock.

Harry just stared at his Aunt.

"Er―Harry? Thought your Aunt was a muggle?" Queried Tonks.

"She is, isn't she?"

_######_

"Dudley, we're leaving! Pack your things!" Vernon stormed from the the room after a staring match with his better half.

"Daad, do I have to?" Whined Dudley.

"Do you **want **to stay here with these freaks?!" He growled in anger with skewed curiosity.

"N―No."

Ten minutes had done little to sedate Vernon's anger, his son wasn't helping either.

"Dudley, don't bother with the Television, it's easily replaced. Just pack your clothes and valuables already!" Vernon shouted up the stairs, "I'll be in the car; don't make me wait!"

_######_

The minutes passed quickly and before they knew it; it was just the three of them.

Harry struggled off the floor onto the bed, where he stared at the celling not daring to break the silence.

As if suddenly realising her husband and son had just left, his Aunt broke into a fresh set of tears, the first of many for what was turning into quite the emotional day for everyone. Harry thought back to the conversation he had with his Aunt earlier; as much as his Aunt was unhappy with her life, there was still a love for her family. He didn't think her quite cold enough not to be effected by their departure.

Harry heard a sound and looked towards the window; a Ministry owl. _Great._

"Oh Harry, this isn't good." Harry looked towards Tonks who was perched at the end of the bed, she wore a worried frown. "They're going to pin it on you aren't they? Maybe I should contact Dumbledore again; that's what I came here to tell you."

Harry went to the window and let in the owl, removed it's letter before offering it an owl treat, and a drink of water.

"Yeah, about Under Age Magic again. _'You have shown yourself incapable of following reasonable restrictions for the safety of the Wizarding World in accordance to Section 13 of the Inter...'_, yada yada yada, _'...hear by ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 am, on the twelfth of August. Any offences between now and the disciplinary hearing will be taken...', _yada yada yada, _'...warrant issued for your arrest..'_, yada yada yada, _'...facing a term in Azkaban Prison.' _Well, that's new." Harry placed the letter down with indifference.

Tonks stared at him as if he had grown a second head, "_'That's new'_?! Harry, this is serious―"

"No, Sirius is Sirius." Harry joked.

"I don't understand why you don't even care; any more magic and they'll put you in Azkaban, Harry!" Tonks growl in exasperation.

"Oh, don't get me wrong Tonks, I know it's _serious_. But lets be honest, they'll do what they want to do. I mean, two of the three times 'I've done magic here' and it wasn't even me. First it was a house elf trying to get my expelled, and just now it was my Aunt. Merlin, even the time I did do it, it was in self defence. Not like they'll even admit that, with Dementors being Ministry 'controlled' and everything." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I should have guessed something along those lines; it's not like you to be indifferent by the chance of being put in Azkaban, especially now of all times, merlin, even expelled!" Tonks looked at her hands.

"Oh, by the way, what's with a big bad Auror freezing in a fight." Harry teased.

Tonks' head shot up, "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry, I forgot! Are you alright, you took quite a beating before? I'll go get Madam Po―"

"Tonks! What would Moody say, ay?" Harry swollen eye wink, before he winced.

Tonks stared at him dumbly, "What?"

"You were rambling, I should be fine, nothing a bit of rest won't―"

"Harry, you really must see somebody about this you look awful―"

"Tonks, no! I'm fine. Anyway, what did Dumbledore want?" Harry directed.

"Just wanted me to tell you that you shouldn't give up your wand. Oh, and to not do any more Magic." Tonks said with a lopsided grin.

"Can't say I was expecting much; always end up with my questions than answers after talking with that guy." Harry shook his head.

"Well, that was all I was going to say. And as much as I hate to leave you like this―"

"I'm fine Tonks, really. Couple hours sleep will do me good." He said with a smile.

"If you say so. Night Harry." She threw him a wink before disappearing.

"Harry, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for now?"

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I kind of made your situation worse and for that, I'm sorry. If there is anything I can do to help, just say."

"It's alright Tonks. I do have a question though."

"What is it Harry?"

"Why are you being so apologetic lately?"

"Well―I―" Harry grinned at her as she fell over herself trying to answer. She blushed under his gaze.

"No worries Tonks, I understand." Harry reassured her.

"Yo―You do?" Her eyes shined.

"Sure I do. I know under all that attitude, and 'Don't call me Ny―"

"Don't!"

"Fine, anyway, I believe you have low self-worth." Harry stated.

Tonks just stared at him, and blinked. She had not been expecting that; secretly she wished he'd understood what she was really trying to say. Nonetheless she was pleased that he had noticed. She vowed to try change that in future.

"Yeah, kind of happens after being an Apprentice under Moody," She lied, with a self-conscious smile.

"I can understand that." Harry replied, "So what brings you to my place. Not stopping by just to apologise, I hope."

"I have a few things to relay." She smiled.

"Shoot."

"Pardon?" Tonks asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, never mind, muggle slang. What do you have to say?"

"Well, Dumbledore held an Order meeting last night, and I offered to take you to your trail. He said it was a good idea, and as I might get called to take the stand anyway, with me being a witness. He said not to worry about it, and that it would all take care of itself. H―"

"'Take care of itself'?"

"Which leads me to the second message. Hermione has been pestering Dumbledore whenever he's been at Number 12 about what he's doing about your case. He keeps replying, 'The truth will out, everything will turn out just fine.'. Naturally, that isn't good enough for her and she has been doing research." Harry rolled his eyes. "She says that by law, you should leave an innocent man―"

"'By law'? What is she expecting to happen?"

"Harry, have you not been reading the Daily Prophet?"

"No, why?"

Tonks looked uneasily around the room, "I'm not sure if I'm the best person to tell you this―"

"You'll do fine, what is it? What happened? Has Voldemort done something?" Harry asked hastily, he also noticed Tonks didn't flinch.

"Well―Harry, the Prophet has launched a smear campaign against you and Dumbledore. Fudge spoke, outright denying the return of You-Know―"

"Voldemort."

"V―Voldemort. And he started saying things like, 'He's a deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero' ―"

"_What?!_"

"I know, none of us, _The Order_, believe it, expect Snape of course. But that didn't stop the Prophet picking it up; they've turned your name into a running joke. I'm sorry Harry."

"For merlin's sake, Tonks! Stop apologising!" He shouted angrily.

"I'm―er―Sorry, I'll just be going then." Tonks tried to make a hasty retreat, only to be stopped by Harry's hand around her arm.

"Listen Tonks, I shouldn't have blown up on you like that," He let go of her arm and looked down to his lap. His anger having dissipated with Tonks' statement. "I know it's not your fault, Fudge just hits a sore spot, you know?" He looked up towards her eyes.

"Try working for him." She laughed, Harry soon followed.

######

As the afternoon rolled on, Harry and Tonks continued to talk. After apologising to her Tonks had quickly forgiven him, and they spent some time in each others company.

When 3 o'clock drew near Tonks interrupted Harry.

"Listen Harry, it's been great. But I'm meant to be on Duty―and your not meant to know that." Her face fell into her hand.

Harry laughed, "Don't worry Tonks, I knew."

She looked up to him, "You knew, how? I was told I wasn't allowed to talk to you, never mind actually tell you that your being guarded?"

"You honestly believe, that people would be able to follow me, and me not know about it?" He replied honestly.

"Well, yeah?―" Tonks' shrugged.

"But that's besides the point. You weren't allowed to talk to me, and your not allowed to tell me that I'm being guarded?" His face impassive.

"Well, I was allowed to talk to you, to tell you about me taking you to the trial. But that was it; I was meant to just pop away, back to the garden."

"Who?" Harry demanded.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Who has that right. _Not allowed to talk to me..._ Let me guess, Dumbledore?"

"Right in one, I didn't want to follow orders. And well, I didn't did I?" She laughed, "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him―"

"Why would I? I had fun. And let me backtrack a moment, I suppose Dumbledore is also the reason for totally pointless pieces of mail from my friends."

"Yeah, when I spoke to Hermione, she said that she had been told not to write anything important, about the Order, or what is happening. She hates it, so she talked to me about it. I've agreed to forward anything she wants to say. And she's coming over too, she wants to talk to you about your case. I'll be sneaking her in." She winked. "You really had fun?" She continued.

"Yeah, was nice to talk to somebody for a change. It didn't hurt that she was quite pretty either." He blushed.

"Good, you shouldn't have to stay in here with nobody to talk to." She smiled, "I don't know what Dumbledore is doing. Anyway, I have to go. I meant to be outside in 5 minutes for switch over. Later, lover boy." She winked and left with a crack, missing Harry fall over himself trying to find a reply.

######

It was a week later before Harry had any contact with the Magical World. He had spent most of his time reviewing last years school work. He found with preparing for the Tournament he had huge holes in knowledge, thus it was a good thing he had be exempt from the end of term exams.

Flicking through his Divination book, his doubts about the subject rose. He couldn't believe the subject was even 'taught' at Hogwarts. Everything he had seen so far about the subject was that it was more a skill you were born with that was cultivated, and that allowed you to divine the future, or whatever.

And one thing Harry knew was; he didn't have even a touch of the skill. Or so he thought.

Chucking the book down onto his bed, he jumped up and left his room. He wanted to take a walk; just get out of the house for a while. Having been in there all week, as well as looking after his Aunt somewhat.

His aunt had gone into a serious depression, and nothing he said or did helped, she just sat there and stared. Vowing to get some advice from Hermione when she arrived; he slipped on his shoes and walked out the front door.

It wasn't until the end of Privet Drive until the raised hairs on the back of his neck couldn't be ignored any more. His hand slipped into his over-sized jeans, and he gripped his wand.

Hoping not to raise suspicion he quickly glanced behind just as a gust of wind blew past. His nose picked up the faint smell of hibiscus, plum and chocolate. Yet he couldn't see anybody.

He recognised that smell; he'd never admit it to anyone but he secretly savoured that smell before he went to bed a week back.

He faced forward quickly to hide his grin. _Tonks._

######

Tonks watched from under her cloak as Harry stepped out of the house, and started off down the street. Sighing to herself, she rushed after him, keeping a distance.

_What is he doing leaving the house for, anybody else would tell him to get inside._

She watched as he left Privet Drive, glancing back briefly before grinning at the sight of the local park.

Harry quickly sped off, and Tonks struggled to keep up under the cloak. Making sure to keep low so her shoes didn't show.

When she arrived Harry was sitting on a swing, flying backwards and forwards recklessly, the grin still plastered on his face. She shook her head at him in amazement.

"Trouble keeping up, Tonks?" He shouted, laughter in his voice.

She stood there rooted to the spot. _How did he know?_

She removed the cloak after looking around. "How did you know?!"

"I told you. Do you really think you could follow me, and me not know about it?" His grin widened at the sight of the flustered Tonks.

"Yes, by _how?" _She said with emphasis.

Harry slowed down to a stop. He shrugged, "I don't know, I just _feel_ as if somebody is watching me. I felt it since I left the house, and by the end of Privet Drive I just couldn't ignore it any more."

"Al right, but how did you know it was me?" She questioned on.

He smiled, "Your perfume." He said simply.

"Perfume?" She asked astonished.

"Yeah," He reached down and pulled some grass from the ground and threw it into the air. They watched as it floated away in the wind. "The wind was blowing towards me, you were behind me, I smelt your perfume, yet nobody was there. How?" He smiled again.

Tonks grinned, "How did you know what perfume I wore?"

Tonks was rewarded with a reddening Harry as he replied, "You honestly think you could spend a few hours in my room, and I wouldn't remember the smell of your perfume?" Harry started to inspect his hands.

"Relax, Harry. I was kidding." She laughed. "Your just so easy to make blush."

Summoning his courage, he replied, "I'm not the only one." With a wink. He watched with satisfaction as her cheeks started to colour.

Tonks just looked at him. _Dammit! My own bloody body betrayed me. _She receded the blush with help of her morphing powers. _He is kind of cute though. What?!_

"Tonks,Tonks!" Harry shouted.

"What?" She blinked.

"You sort of spaced out there for a second, you alright?" He asked with concern.

"What―Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that." She looked down for a second.

"Its alright. So your on duty today, when you bringing Hermione over?"

Tonks' disappointment didn't show on her face, "Er―I'm bringing her on Wednesday, are you free?"

"Good, I need to ask her something. And yes, of course I'm free. Not a lot else I can do is there?" He laughed.

"Al right then Harry, lets get back, you weren't even supposed to be out of the house." She threw the cloak over her head.

"Okay, only wanted some air. Been in that house all week." Harry started off towards home.

Tonks sighed in defeat, before following after him.

######

"Harry, are you home?" Tonks shouted up the stairs after she apparated in with Hermione.

She looked around, at least the house wasn't unnaturally tidy any more. _Good bit of dirt never hurt._

"He's in his room. Could you tell him it's lunch time too." Said Petunia from the kitchen doorway.

"Thanks, Mrs Dursley." Hermione's smile slipped when Mrs Dursley burst into tears and walked back into the kitchen-diner. She looked at Tonks who shrugged.

They walked up the stairs towards his room when Hermione gasped, she whirled at Tonks, "You mean―They put―What is _that_ for?!" She growled pointing at the cat flap, "He doesn't have a cat."

Tonks raised her hands, "Hey, don't look at me!"

"You knew, and you left him here to be locked up?!" She screamed.

"Now hang on just―"

"It's alright, Tonks―" Said Harry as he opened the door.

"Harry!" He had a split-second warning to brace himself before a brown haired missile hit him.

"Ug―Hey 'Mione," He said as he relaxed into the embrace.

She pulled away, "Harry, I'm sorry, you shouldn't be here. What was Dumbledore thinking?! And _you!" _She whirled on Tonks again, "You knew, and you left him here!"

"Hermione,"

"I absolutely cannot believe you would just leave him here,"

"Hermione!"

"When it is blatantly obvious that something is wrong when you see this," She waved her hand at the door.

"Hermione Jane Granger, stop!" Harry commanded, and she did. She looked at him. "This has nothing to with her, it hasn't been touched since my Uncle left. There was no reason for me to leave."

Righteous anger faded, Hermione flung herself at Harry again, "Oh Harry, I didn't know, I swear I didn't know," She sobbed, "Didn't know they were so―so, horrid."

As Harry held her as she cried, Tonks stood in the doorway, shocked at being berated by a 15 year old girl. A stray thought entered her mind. _How can I compete?_

She shook herself as the sobs seemed to lessen, she heard Harry whisper, "Come now, less of this, it's over now, it's alright here."

"Hermione I have something to ask you." Harry said releasing the hug.

"Should I―" Tonks pointed outside the room. _Compete; I've already lost. _

He shook his head. She blinked.

"Hermione, and you as well Tonks," He said meeting each of them in the eyes, "I―I need some advice."

"Well, you see―er," Harry started to pace, as the girl sat on his bed. He didn't know how to approach the subject.

"Oh I know, it's a girl isn't it Harry?" Said Hermione.

Harry stopped pacing and his head whipped up, "What―No! Of―What? Why would you―"

Hermione laughed, and Tonks cracked a smile, "Oh course it is, only a girl could get you this flustered, who is it, do we―"

"Hermione, no! It's my Aunt." Harry blurted out, his face turned to shock, then pure embarrassment, as he realised what he'd said.

Tonks choked up, which turned into a violent coughing fit. Harry moved to her, and started patting her back, "Tonks, you okay?" He asked in concern, previous conversation forgotten.

"Wh―What? Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I just imagined that, right?" She looked over at Hermione, who was just staring at Harry, mouth agape, "Right?!" She turned to Harry, "Harry, please, please, I'm begging you, your just joking right?"

He just looked at her, "What?"

It was Hermione's turn to talk, "Harry, not that I want to criticise your feelings or anything, but she's your aunt, your mothers sister, and what, 25 years older than you, er―"

Harry stared at he, feeling slightly ill, "What?! Hermione, no! No! I meant, it's my Aunt I need advice about! For merlins sake, you think I fancy my _Aunt! _No! She's depressed, I needed help! Oh my god."

Harry put his face in his hands again.

"OH Harry! I just―"

"Assumed you were correct?" Asked with a blank face.

"Yes, sorry. But, I thought, Cho, oh Harry. I'm sorry." Her head fell down.

"I'm sorry too, I know you hate it when I keep saying it, but it did sound pretty bad. Especially when you told Hermione that your Uncle had gone, she just put it all together wrong." She giggled.

They spent the next few hours laughing at Harry, even if he did join in, and talk over his case. By the end he had a folder of arguments, memories, written and signed statements.

Had Harry guessed what his next 3 weeks would be like; he wouldn't have guessed correctly. In fact, he didn't guess correctly. Which was the reason he was currently standing in the doorway of No. 4 Privet Drive, stuttering like a fool.

**Chapter 2**

"Wha―Herm―Wh―"

He looked from Hermione to Tonks, and continued spluttering out half words. They both burst into laughter.

Hermione started to catch her breath, "Oh―I'm sorry Harry―Just so funny."

"I guess the questions were 'What?' and 'Why?'?" Asked Tonks, Harry nodded.

"Well, we figured you wouldn't be doing much. I'm on duty again. And nobody seemed to miss Hermione yesterday, so, here we are!" Tonks spread her arms wide in an expressive gesture.

"Oh―Right, suppose you want to come in?"

"I will―"

"I can't, I'm afraid. Gotta' do some protecting!" With that, Tonks apparated away.

"Right," Harry closed the door.

Harry started to walk into the Kitchen-diner, "Would you like anything to drink, we've got-t-t," He open the fridge door. "Milk and water?"

Hermione smiled, "Cup of tea, please."

Harry turned to her with a neutral expression, "That wasn't an option―"

"Yeah, but you have milk and water, a kettle over there. I'm sure you've got tea bags and sugar round here too!"

Harry stared and managed to get out, "Yeah, that doesn't mean you get to have a cup of tea―" Before bursting into laughter at the look of outrage on Hermione's face. "Got―cha" He said between gulps of air.

Hermione issued a soft growl before swatting his head, "You!"

"Me?"

"Make me a cup of tea already," She turned in a huff, making Harry bark a laugh again.

"Coming right up,"

######

Harry sat down on the table opposite Hermione, and slid her drink over. She rapped her hands around the warm cup and stared down into the murky drink, unconsciously repeating the actions of Harry's aunt a few weeks earlier.

Harry just finished blowing his drink before taking a noisy slurp. He looked up towards his now silent company. Noticing the slumped shoulders, and downcast face, he asked, "'Mione, what's wrong?"

She stay silent, he noticed her shoulders started to shake. He reached across the table and tilted her head up. She was crying silent tears. Harry rushed round the table and pulled her into a hug, she let go of her drink and burrowed into his chest, her crying increased as they gently slid to the floor.

Harry gently rocked her as he whispered none-sense words into her ear. It seemed like hours before the last tears fell; neither moved as they sat huddled on the floor.

Eventually Harry broke the silence, "Do you want to tell me what all that was about?" He whispered.

Hermione burrowed further into his chest in reply. He leant back and placed his finger under her chin again, tilting her head up once again, their eyes locked and Harry could see the fear, sadness, love?

Hermione looked away, he was just about to speak when he heard her whisper, "I―I thought you were starting too." Tears started to fall again.

"Start what, 'Mione?" He rubbed her back.

She flashed him a quick smile of gratification, "Ron, I don't know what happened to him. Ever since we got back from school; I was at Headquarters with him. He was just so, spiteful. He would go out of his way to be hurtful towards me." She paused, Harry let her continue, "It was why I wanted to be here, away from him, with you. Then when you started teasing my about the drink―" Harry pulled her closer.

"I'm so sorry, Mi―"

"I could take it from Ron, I always knew he was a git. I ignored him because you two were friends. But I couldn't take it from you Harry, not you―"

"I'm so sorry, I'll do anything to make it up to you. I'll even make you dinner." He joked.

Hermione twisted out of his grip, and looked him right in the eye, inches from his face. She could see his honesty, the remorse he felt for his comments, his fear of rejection, his love?

She leaned forward, and asked huskily, "Kiss me?"

######

Tonks' morning couldn't have been more embarrassing. Having woken up with a splitting headache, she proceeded downstairs where she was overheard Ron's voice through the library door.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing; they were meant to be best friends, and if she was honest with herself, this wasn't first time she'd heard comments like this. She heard movement in the room, so she quickly entered the room opposite, where she peered through the keyhole. It didn't take long for Hermione to burst through the door, leaving it open in her wake. Still standing in the room, was Ron with a smirk on his face.

Tonks left and went downstairs after Ron left the room, she entered the kitchen to see Sirius, Hermione, Mr and Mrs Weasley eating breakfast. She slumped into the seat next to Hermione, and bumped her gently with her shoulder. Hermione turned round and threw Tonks a quick smile before starting to eat again.

Tonks got a plate and started to get some food when Sirius spoke, "How's your head this morning, Nymphy?"

She growled at him, "Don't you dare call me that again, or Padfoot gets neutered." Hermione choked on her food, and Sirius looked horror struck, "You wouldn't," His whispered.

"Try me." She started on her food again.

"That doesn't stop me talking about my favourite godson, though does it?" He smirked.

"What about Harry?" Ask Hermione.

"Oh, I don't know. Just something Ny―Tonks," He quickly glanced at Tonks. "Said last night, isn't that right Tonks?"

"Oh, is it about the trial?"

"Eh―Yeah, the trial," She blushed.

"Yeah, Tonks, the _trial. _Or was it, how much _fun _you were having with Harry the other week, hmm?" Sirius teased.

"You spent time with Harry?" Hermione asked, "Before, I went that is?"

"Er―Yeah, when I went to give him your message. I kinda―"

"Spent your whole shift with him?" Said Sirius, she blushed, "Yeah."

"Well―Good, he needs some company. Say Tonks, you think you and I could have a chat for a second." Hermione stood up, "In the hall?"

However before Tonks could reply, Molly spoke up, "That's alright, dear. Anything you have to say can be said in front of us. We're all family after all."

"Er―No, it's alright. We'll be right back." She dragged Tonks into the hall after receiving a disapproving gaze from Mrs Weasley.

"What is it, Hermione?" Tonks said, head slightly downcast.

"I was wondering if you would take me to see Harry again today?" Asked Hermione nervously.

"Wha―Sure, sure. Er, listen, Hermione, about me and Harry―"

"It's alright Tonks, I know you like him, I like him too. But if you think about it, it isn't really our choice. Hell, he may not even like either of us! But then again, if if he does..." She trailed off and took a deep breath. "Listen, I'm not one for a polyamory relationship, having been raised in the muggle world. But who knows what will happen; I guess I could share if he asked." She said with a wink, then walked out.

######

As Tonks apparated away she was hit with a pang of jealousy. She felt like leaving her duties again; it's not like being in his presence wasn't guarding him, right?

Arriving in the garden with a small pop, she looked around. The garden at No. 4 were usually more maintained than they were. The grass was overgrown, you could see the odd weed had sprouted up throughout it. The borders a wash of green as plants and bushes raced to outgrow each other. What little space was left was dominated by even more weeds.

She threw her cloak over her shoulders and disappeared from view, not that it did much good, as the crushed grass marked her progress.

She watched as they entered the kitchen, exchanged a few words when Hermione hit his head. She chuckled to herself.

As they sat with their drinks at the table, she decided it was time to check the perimeter and started off down the side of the house.

######

The usual rounds took her nearly one hour more as one of Mrs Figg's cats caught her attention. It didn't take much to work out that it want her to follow; so follow she did. Once at Mrs Figg's house she was given a note with addition orders and left to complete her path.

As she entered the back garden again, she walked to a window and peered through. The instant she did she felt a jolt go down through her system. Sitting on the floor, bodies tangled in each others, were Harry and Hermione. Their lips melded together, as both sort to dominate the other in a spell of hormone driven lust. It was hot!

Feeling the jealousy washed over her for the second time that day. With thoughts of being an unwanted voyeur she turned to watch over the house from a distance.

######

Harry pulled away sharply, "Hermione, stop."

"What is it, Harry? Did I―" Hermione was cut off as Harry looked behind him.

"No, no, it was great. Just, somebody was watching us. But I don't see anybody." Harry made to stand up, but Hermione grabbed his arm and yanked him back down.

"Don't worry, Harry," She grinned, "It was Tonks, how long was she watching?"

"I don't know, five minutes?" He shrugged.

"_Five minutes! _I knew she―" She stopped abruptly and looked up sharply. Harry's eyes were expectant.

"'I knew she―'?" Harry continued.

"Oh―It's nothing," She said hastily, but Harry continued to look right into her eyes.

"You sure?" He pried.

"_Fine! _I'm not meant to tell you, but-t-t, she kind of has a crush on you."

"No she doesn't." He stated.

"Yes, she does."

"I don't believe it, what could she possibly see in me?" He cast his eyes downward.

Hermione just crossed her arms, and stared at him. He eventually looked up, and with a slouch of his shoulders he breathed out, "Fine. So, she's attached to me?"

"Yup," She nodded.

Mustering his courage he laughed, "Probably enjoyed what she saw. You almost had my top off!"

Hermione blushed as she realised that Tonks had watched her _battle _with Harry.

######

"Hey guys, what you doing?" Tonks asked as she walked into Harry's room. Hermione and Harry were sitting side by side with the backs against the wall. Both had pads on their knees and books were tossed about the bed.

"Summer homework," Hermione answered without looking up.

Tonks gave Harry a look which obviously meant 'what's with her?' "Don't worry Tonks, she's just embarrassed." He answered.

"About what?"

"Oh, you know. You watching our make-out session and all," Tonks started spluttering and he tried to hold back a blush.

"How?" She finally asked.

Before she could answer Hermione ground out, "_Five minutes, _you watched for _five minutes?"_

Tonks' blush deepened, and she shrugged sheepishly, "What? It was kinda hot." Everyone in the room had matching red faces.

After a few more minutes of playful banter, Tonks spoke up again, "Sorry Hermione but it's time to go, I'll wait outside the door." She winked at the pair.

After a few kisses, Hermione started to leave. "Hey 'Mione, can I borrow this book?" He held up her copy of _Ancient Runes: The Introduction__._

"Runes?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I just flicked through, seems quite interesting." He said sheepishly.

"Yeah sure, just make sure I get it back before Term so I can do my homework."

"Okay thanks, bye 'Mione." He smiled.

AN: JK said that each Galleon was worth approximately £5.

Sorry that's far from realistic, so I'm invoking a little writers freedom and changing that. I spent a long time trying to work out the approx price of a Galleon. I based it's size of a doubled up 2 pence piece, 25mm diameter, 4mm depth. Resulting in 1963mm cubed volume. Volume to Weight conversion, on 0.000002 Cubic meters of Gold is equal to approx. 38.64 grams. Which at current gold prices equals £1018. That's expensive, and also creates absurd amounts of sickles and knuts to equal prices.

So I'd going with.. 1 Galleon = £100, 40 Sickles to a Galleon, 30 Knuts to a Sickle.

**Chapter 4**

Harry heard the knock at his bedroom door, but what he was doing was just too interesting. The endless possibilities, just waiting to collected and constructed. His musings were interrupted as the door banged open.

"A ward on the door Harry, honestly―what the―!"

"Oh hey, 'Mione. What are you doing here?" Asked Harry from the end of the room.

"I may have escaped your notice, Harry. But those 3 weeks since I first came over? Yeah, well they're up―Have you been to sleep?!" Hermione asked suddenly noticing the made bed which was covered in strange materials, and what looked like gold sheet; Wait what? _Gold sheet?_

"Harry, what the hell is going on here?" Asked Tonks from the door.

"Er―Welcome to the Potter factory of all things weird and wonderful?" He replied sheepishly.

"I can―see that..." Replied Hermione and Tonks.

"Why don't I fill you in?"

"Honestly, Harry! Now is not the time to be thinking about sex!" Hermione replied automatically, before blushing deeply.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Harry stuttered.

"You were going to explain?" Provided Tonks.

"Right―yeah, erm. Well you see after I read through the Introductory Runes book, I started to get loads of ideas, it just seemed so―so―"

"Versatile?"

"Right, versatile, so I sent Hedwig off to Flourish and Blotts, asking for all the books they had, and there you have it."

"Sorry Harry, your not getting away with that little. It might explain why this room is a little bigger than before, but it doesn't explain why everything is covered in gold." Exclaimed Tonks in exasperation.

Harry glanced around the room; he didn't notice it before but they were right. The window and door frames were covered in gold. His bed, completely covered, draws, covered. He raised an eyebrow at his lack of observation.

"Er―Well, I came to realise something. Runes are usually caved in wood, metal or gold. That's from worst to best. The flow of magic between the runes is almost like―well, electricity, however the connection seems to be unnaturally efficient when using gold. Which I haven't worked out why, yet." He said with a thoughtful look on his face. He ran his hand through his scraggier-than-normal hair then continued, "Anyway, I also picked up from reading these many books; which is also where I got the room expansion runes, they were surprisingly simple to place.

"_Anyway_, what I also picked up from these books is that people use these other materials as substitutes for gold, as gold is generally expensive, and if you wanted a Runic Necklace it would be cheaper to make it out of a metal instead, depending obviously on how many runes you want to place. So I tried to think of a way to keep the price low, while maintaining the highest efficiency.

"Then it came to me. How can you use gold, without creating it from gold." He held up a thing piece of golden foil, "Gold leaf.

"So naturally I contacted to the Goblins about the price of gold. I was actually a little surprised to find out Galleons weren't solid gold, if I'm honest, I wonder how many Purebloods know that. Regardless, I'm going off on a tangent again. They said that a Galleon was worth 5 pounds, and it uses something like 0.5 grams of gold, which coats the outside of their coins. They offered me, for 2 Galleons, 1, 1 meter square of gold leaf. Which I started using to experiment with." He shrugged, "That's it."

Hermione just stared at him, "Wow."

He grinned before moving across the room and giving her a quick kiss on the lips, "I know, right?"

"Ugh―When was the last time you washed!"

"Erm―"

"Harry, what do the golden balls do?" Enquired Tonks from his side.

"Why don't I show you?" He picked up a ball from the table, and his wand.

The balls on the table were all different sizes, ranging from golf ball sized to footballs.

He placed his wand to a rune on the ball; suddenly it started to flash. After a few seconds his hand dropped down, and he blew out a breath. "Wow, they still take a lot out of me." Before they could ask, he threw the ball out the room.

It bounced once on the stairs, it changed colour. It bounced for the second time, it changed colour again.

They watched with curious eyes, and just as they thought they figured out the purpose of the ball, the brightest white light shone from the bottom of the stairs, causing the occupants of the house to quickly shield their eyes.

"Bloody―" Exclaimed Hermione.

"―Hell―" Finished Tonks.

"Well, that was, unexpected, still did the job though." Harry tuned around and started fiddling with something on his desk as the girls collected themselves.

"Did it's job? I thought it was just a colour changing bouncy ball?" Questioned Tonks.

"It's a 'Flash Grenade' made from a simple one pound bouncy ball craved with runes and covered in gold leaf. Surprisingly efficient."

At Tonks' confused gaze, Hermione elaborated, "A Flash Grenade is used in the muggle armed forces, they're thrown into rooms where they explode and daze the occupants. This leaves them vulnerable to the attacking force."

"Wow, that's handy. How many did you make?"

"Well, that was my newest design. I tested another five or so, and I still have those. They can be reused, just recharge the correct rune and your ready to throw." He explained.

######

"Listen Harry, there is a reason we are here."

"Oh, there is?"

"Yes, your trial remember. And it's in 2 hours so you better get a move on. Your a state."

"I completely forgot! I'll be 20 minutes."

Harry raced out the room, only to race back in a moment later to take his clothes from Hermione's hands. He had a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and tried miserably to tame his hair. He walked back into his room and saw Hermione sifting through the papers on his desk.

"Harry, how did you work all this out?" She called without looking up.

"I don't know, I suppose it seems so straightforward to me. It's like writing a story but with pictures instead of words, because remember, words can have multiple meanings. So I suppose it's about intent, and context."

"Anyway Harry, it's about time we left." Interrupted Tonks.

"Wait, Hermione isn't coming?"

"No, I'm going to wait here for you to get back. If that's alright with you?" Hermione asked looking up for the first time.

"Yeah, sure. Just don't mess with the papers too much alright. I'm working on something. You know where the kitchen is if you need anyting."

Harry and Tonks walked out the front door. Tonks pulled Harry into a hug and before he could protest he felt like he was being pushed in from all sides, he tried to breath but found he couldn't. He started to panic, then it was over.

"What. The. Hell?" He barked at Tonks while catching his breath.

"Sorry Harry, I should have warned you, that was apparation. Anyway, let's head off. We're going to the ministry through the guest entrances."

Before Harry could argue, Tonks started walking.

They left the courtyard of the Leaky Cauldron, where Tonks had apparated them moments before. They passed through the main bar, and waved to Tom the barman on the way out. It was surprisingly empty, Harry thought. But he guessed it was because the times he had been there, were always after receiving a Hogwarts letter so the alley was bound to be more busy.

They seemed to walk off in a random direction, taking lefts, and rights. Before a traditional red telephone box came into view. Tonks walked over to the door and held it open as Harry shuffled inside, Tonks entered behind. Tonks leant over his shoulder and picked up the receiver. Tapped 6, 2, 4, 4, 2 and held it to her ear.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, state your business." Droned the women.

"Auror Tonks, and Harry Potter for Harry Potter's trial."

"Please take the badges, have a pleasant day."

Harry heard a clinking sound, and looked over towards the phone as Tonks collected two badges out of the 'coin return' slot. Tonks handed one to Harry as she pined her own onto her Auror robes. It read, 'Harry Potter, attending trial'.

Suddenly the phone box gave a lurch, and Harry almost lost his footing. The phone box was moving downwards, and before he knew it he was in a huge room.

The room was larger than the great hall in Hogwarts, it seemed to span at least a quarter of a mile. He arrived in a small off-shoot, the walls were covered with other similar phone boxes, and people were walking to and throw.

As Harry followed Tonks down the strip, he noticed the fountain in the middle, decorated with various magical creatures, ranging from Goblins to Hippogriffs.

Tonks directed him towards an alcove off the hallway about half way along the atrium, there was a a large desk blocking the way. People were queuing up, and talking to a person behind the desk. They waited in line.

It took almost twenty minutes to reach the desk. Harry was silently thanking Tonks and Hermione for interrupting his experimenting, as it wasn't long till his trial. Harry guessed he would have been late, or worse, not attended, had he been left to get there on his own.


	3. Story 3 - I Can See You

Story 3 – I Can See You - Bit of a super-duper harry-can-do-amazing-things-with-very-little-effor t-or-training fanfic. I'm not too disappointed about that, because I like reading those kinds of things every now and then. :P I thought this fanfic had a little bit of iBoy in it, but I guess I was wrong. I'll try find it for you all. Pretty interesting book. :) 3k Words (1 and a half chapters)

**Chapter 1**

It is sometimes said, that out of the darkness, a light will always lead the way, to give you guidance in your time of need. It is also sometimes said, that knowledge is subjective, and that you really need to know the knowledge before you can use it and this was the problem for one small orphan boy.

It all started on one fateful Halloween night, his parents died in a car crash, or so _they_ said, and he was stuck with _them. _

_They _rarely told him anything, 'Your parents, worthless drunks', _they _would say. But it didn't matter what _they _said, he didn't believe them, not really.

He knew he was different, there were just too many things that had happened around him to call him anything but different. He used to think he had a Guardian Angel, that would look over him, protect him from _them, _or help heal him if for some reason his Guardian Angel wasn't around when he needed him.

As he grew older, he started to dismiss this. So many times he prayed for the help of his supposed Guardian Angel, only to end up broken and bleeding inside his cupboard.

Yes, it was all him. He had the power to move from one place to another without the passing of time; he had the power to move items from one side of the room to the other, he had the power to accelerate growth, or unlock doors. Yes, he could do all these things, but he still had a tiny problem. He didn't know how.

_'Yes, this is a problem.'_ He thought, but really, this was the least of his problems, because one year ago, on the 30th of July, he became blind.

That day started out like any other, he had no reason to be extraordinary aware, no reason to think _they_ would go to such depths. So, as the sun began to climb in the sky, he, like every other morning of his sorry existence, was woken by a series of raps on his cupboard door.

"You best be up and in that kitchen in less than a minute, or you'll be sorry." She hissed.

That was his cue. He had a few times not made it into the kitchen in time. Those days were painful, in such an environment you learnt not to keep people waiting longer than they were willing to wait. Even if that time fluctuated from day to day, you just had to grit your teeth and take whatever your punishment was going to be for not being able to read theirminds.

_Seriously, with all their qualms with 'abnormalities', they sure do expect me to be super human! _He thought.

Well anyway, once he managed to escape his prison under the stairs, he went straight to the cooker to prepare the small feast for breakfast. Frying pan from the rack, oil in the pan, hob on full. A packet of bacon thrown in with practised ease. They sizzle in protest.

He had been cooking for three minutes when _they_ came in. Attempting to strut into the room like lord of the manor, attempting, failing miserably. He tried so hard to keep from laughing out loud, that didn't stop him accidentally voicing his mind though. "Wobble, wobble, wobble." He muttered.

"What was that boy?" His uncle, although asking the question, obviously knew what he had said. His facing turning that dangerous shade of prune, his hands clenched in fists at his side as he slowly approached the child.

_'Ahh, shit. Well done, Harry. Real cleaver..." _He scolded himself.

As predicted, the violent right handed slap to the head, full force. Experience told him that would have broken his jaw, and given him concussion. He dodged the blow, lasting mistake.

He seemed to enrage, the shade of his face growing deeper, how much longer before he blows his cap? Exactly five seconds, that's how long.

_It all seemed to happen so fast, I dodged, I didn't even mean too. I guess it's a reflex. A counter action. For every action, there's a reaction. Whatever it was, it changed my life. But I'm still trying to figure if it was for the better or not._

He grabbed the handle of the pan in his pudgy hands, gripped it tight. And in one swift movement, one which was of surprising quickness, the boiling hot fat assaulted his shock filled eyes, then darkness.

Pain. Excruciating pain. He thought he knew pain. Pain was second nature, alongside frowning or running. But this, this was like liquid fire ablaze on his very skin.

He was lying on a bed, it wasn't his bed, well, because he didn't have one. A moan escaped his dry lips.

"Glad to see your aware, Mr Potter." Said a calm voice from beside him.

"W-Where-" His raspy voice croaked out before being interrupted.

"Don't try and talk, here drink this," The rim of a cup was placed as his mouth, the cool water soothed his throat. "Well, Mr Potter, that was quite the accident you had. You are currently in the intensive burns ward of London's children hospital." He pushed some buttons on some nearby machines as he addressed his patient.

"Accident? What-what happened?"

"Well, your aunt said that you slipped on the floor in her kitchen while she was out of the room. There was a frying pan on the stove which landed on you. I'm sorry, Harry, but at this stage it is extremely unlikely that you will regain your sight." He said with a heavy voice. _That kid is going to have it rough. _He sighed.

The months after the 'accident' went reasonably quickly, he wasn't expecting them to. He spent just over a month on the ward, _they_ didn't bother to visit. Not that he would have liked them too. He spent his time listening to the radio, or the news channels on the television.

A week before he was due to leave, the doctors removed the face bandages. He wanted to see the damage, so he got one of the nurses to come and describe it to him. They weren't happy about it, the woman started off with a shaky voice, as she verbalised every inch of his skin. He gently ran his fingers over his face.

Along with the removal of the bandage, came the arrival of the mask. He loved it, if only because some of the doctors thought he looked a little scary. It was like a silicon dough, which was pressed onto his face, covering from his forehead, to the end of his nose. It ran over every curve, and made half of his face appear featureless, 'Quite foreboding' the doctors had said. While in the nutrient liquid the silicon was almost a pearly white, and you could see the colour of the bowl through it. But once dried to his face, it went the most startling white, which contrasted sharply against his jet black hair.

The arrival of the Dursley's still brought a smile to his face whenever he thought about it. It was the Monday morning, a little over a month since the 'accident', and _they_ had come to pick him up.

He heard the doctor outside, explaining everything to an uninterested pair, and a spoilt child. Apparently they didn't heed his warning, because as soon as _they _entered the room, the shriek could be heard two floors down.

"What the HELL, is THAT?!" One of them voiced.

"Mrs Dursley, please keep your voice down. I warned you outside, that what you see might be troubling. Do you have no respect for the child, this is hard enough as it is." The doctor hissed.

"Are you saying we're bad parents? Mr-?" Growled the male.

"No, I'm just saying, be a bit more considerate of the situation your nephew is now in."

After a few more short conversations, he was being escorted to the front steps of the hospital by his nurse, as _they_ brought the car round.

A month later, and he felt the only reason he was still alive was because he had to meet with a counsellor every Monday, and that was the only time he was able to leave. He felt trapped and useless, and towards the end of the month the only time he left his room was when his counsellor took him for ice cream or something.

One good thing that came from this situation, was that he wasn't being used as a slave any more. Not that he could do anything even if _they_ still wanted him too. Another was, now, he had his own room. It was previously Dudley's second bedroom and used to be filled with broken toys, and the like. But now it was a clear space, with a bed, a desk, and even a wardrobe in the corner for what little clothes he had.

_They _stayed away too. They left his meals outside his room, so all he had to do was navigate from his bed, to the door, find the handle, then search the floor for the tray. In the beginning it was hard to get the food to his desk without either falling or spilling it, but after a few weeks of several practises a day, he had finally gotten himself a method. It involved sliding it along the floor, while crawling behind it until he arrived at the desk then simply lift it up, and put it down.

The bad points of his new situation were that he had so much time. At least before he kept busy, either slaving about, or reading a smuggled book in his cupboard. Now, all he could do was think. Think, and listen to the neighbours gossip through his open window.

Three Hundred and sixty six days after the 'accident', Harry woke on for his 8th birthday. The night before he had spent thinking over the strange happenings again for the millionth time. Over the last couple of months his councillor had been purchasing him audio books, mainly of the fantasy genre, but some science fiction too. He wanted to know if anybody had written about the kinds of things he could do in a fictional context. So far, he thought it could be a number of different 'powers'.

He had started referring to his ability as 'The Force' similar to the Star Wars series, where people called 'Jedi', had a power which they could call upon. He thought it sounded pretty cool, so decided to call it that too, because none of the books summarised an ability or power, which could complete a large range of effects, like that of his own.

So with his new knowledge, he began trying to do something, which he thought of as a complete failure. Besides how was he to know if anything happened, like changing the colour of a ball for example, he couldn't see!

After that he thought again, perhaps he didn't really know what he wanted to do, so his power didn't do anything? He tried to focus on the pen he knew was on his desk. He wanted it in his hand, still he didn't accomplish anything. He failed to notice the slight tingling sensation.

When he finally got out of bed, Harry rubbed his hand over his mask, as if to scrub the sleep from his eyes. He got out of bed and walked towards the door.

_'4 Steps, open the door, 1 step, turn right, 2 steps, open the door, 2 steps.' _He thought as he started towards the door. _'1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. Open the door...' _Harry moved his hand forward to reach for the handle when he stopped.

Harry had developed an awareness of his surroundings over the year, in his minds eye he would recreate the room which he was in, and he would know where he was within the room, along with everything else in the room; things like furniture or ornaments. He used this to navigate around familiar areas without needing a guide. But something strange just happened.

His mind image had himself standing in front of an open door, which was previously closed, but that wasn't all, he saw a tentacle of rich green light reach forward from his hand and open the door.

_'I used The Force! I wonder...' _He repeated the action, but this time with another thought. _'Close the door.' _A smile graced his lips, as he watched the green light reach out and manoeuvre the door once again.

It took him till the end of the day to realise the magnitude of the gift he had been given. It was almost as if he had his sight back, improved. When he walked into a room, he instantly got a mental image, the walls and furniture would be shades of grey, but anything he touched would gain a green hue.

People were shapes made from different colours, that seemed to move around in the shape of their bodies, almost as if it was flowing in their blood. He watched from the living room window as the neighbours passed by. Some were browns, reds, others were purples and greens. And then there was the intensity, when he looked at himself, he was an intense rich green, but his uncle and aunt were very dim, dark red. Then there was the mystery of Mrs Figg, she was brighter than everyone else, curious.

He could see the plants and trees, the birds in the sky. He could see the house as whole from the comfort of his bed, as if he could just peer through the floors. The way he would have described it would be having a holographic image, that zoomed and twisted that allowed him to see anything within a fair distance of himself.

_'Awesome!'_

Another year passed, and he refined 'The Power', it was as simple as a thought and the flick. There were limits of course, for example, he couldn't make food. But that didn't really matter, he would just summon it from the kitchen downstairs.

A few other things he tried didn't work either like creating a portal, but he didn't mind too much, he could already move himself around, like he was Teleporting. He just thought up another visual representation of physical space, imagining himself in a different place, then asked 'The Power' to take him here.

It seemed the more he used it, the stronger 'The Power' got, it was like a muscle, the constant flexing, draining, allowed the body to accommodate for more, so that it doesn't get as drained next time.

He was still seeing his counsellor, although I felt it was more to do with the fact he never got out the house, and she felt sorry for him. Not that he minded, he didn't reveal his powers, it's sometimes a plus to allow others to see you helpless, they underestimate you.

And that is exactly what happened on his ninth birthday, his counsellor had just taken him into London for a meal, to celebrate, and had left him at the front door of his house because she had to get to her next appointment. He didn't mind, he could find his way in, but he decided, with it being his birthday and all, he would go to the park.

It was now mid afternoon, when the silence of the park was interrupted. Harry was sitting on a swing, minding his own business. There had been some other children at the park earlier, but they seemed younger. They didn't stay long either.

"_Mummy! What's wrong with his face?" A quiet female voice cried out._

"_Hush! I don't know dear, why don't we go home?"_

"_But we only just got here! He's on his own!"_

"_No, I think we'll be going home. Come along." Her mother said sternly. _

_'Nobody wants to know the freak, not that I care, although I do suppose some friends would be nice.' _He thought wistfully.

A Crack interrupted the silence, his head moved up in the general direction. He could see the influx 'The Power' made, and now, standing in the residue was a figure, swirling, a sickly green, but there was another band too, it seemed to rotate around his body, a sickening black. He felt repulsed.

"Harry Potter," The man drawled.

"Hello, can I help you." Instantly on alert. He knew there must be others. And he didn't like the sound of this one.

"Yes, I do suppose you can."

"And how may I be off assistance?"

"You could, perhaps─_Die! Avada Kadavra!_" The man pointed a stick and his senses exploded. He dived from the swing in time to see the spell sail overhead.

"No thanks, don't like that idea, sorry," He shouted.

He summoned a dagger, and sent it towards the man.The dagger flew through the air before ending up in the man shoulder, almost dropping his stick.

"_Ahh_─_Avada Kadavra_!"

Harry needed to get away, with a thought, he blended with the wind, shimmering away as the spell sailed through where he used to be.

He didn't return home instantly, he watched. A few moments later, he saw another explosion of magic, much like he had when the man appeared. This time, it was much larger.

The residue cleared and a group of men had surrounded the man. '_Well, good or bad. That man's not going anywhere.' _With that thought he appeared in front of Number four, Privet Drive.

**Chapter 2**

The school year had just finished and he was looking forward to some time alone before starting secondary school. It was becoming increasing harder to find time alone, to think, and also keep from using 'The Power' in his day to day life.

In the last year and a half he he'd restarted school, and found a way to read. The school was very supportive of his impediment, he had been given training in Braille, he even got volunteers to walk him around.

Of course, his cousin still tried to get to him, constantly trying to either trip him up, push him over, even throw things at him. But his cousin never succeeded, he would always subtly move out of the way.

It was during the previous summer he worked out a method of reading normal books.

He was looking over a book written in Braille, when he got frustrated. He slammed the book the table, with a resounding crack. _'I just wish I could read that one! Bet it has loads more information!' _

As if obeying his command, 'The Power' leapt out and surrounded the book. Startled from his tantrum, Harry picked up the book and flipped to the first page. He dropped the book in shock.

The words within the book seemed to glow, as a result, in his minds eye, he could read it. With a bout of excitement, he jumped onto his bed and began to read in earnest.

And therein began his interest in books. _'You sure do start to appreciate what is written there, when suddenly it's taken away.' _He mused.

It was from that day forward that he begun in trips to the local library. He borrowed books from child fantasy to modern day physics. He drank in knowledge, yearned for more and more. But he knew his limits. _'Try explaining to a Librarian why you want to borrow books you 'cannot read'. They must think I'm off my rocker.' _

He knew they made fun of him, whenever he returned a book they always asked what he thought of it, he could see the grin on their faces. But like always he replied, _'It was okay.' _Wouldn't bode well for them to know I can actually read them. _'Too many questions.'_

Harry walked into his room, and lay down on his bed with a book which he was 'reading'. He didn't need to look at it, it just needed to be close by. This particular book needed to be returned tomorrow, however the content was pretty heavy, so he had not gotten as far as he'd hoped. He sighed as he sat up. _'Wish I could have my own copy. Maybe I could get somebody to buy it for me?'_

A book appeared on his desk, an exact replica of the one he was holding. _'Should have thought of that...' _He thought, a little in shock. _'I suppose that gives me a mission for the summer. A good old book hunt!' _He smiled.


End file.
